Soldiers and Cops
by N7Tex11
Summary: The Shepard triplets have been separated for nearly thirteen years after their parents were killed on Mindoir. Luke ran away from their foster home leaving his sisters Claire and Mallory to fend for themselves. Now an officer with C-Sec, Luke teams up with his long lost sisters to chase down a dirty spectre and possibly save the galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, this is my first go at a FanFic so please don't hold back on me. I want any suggestions, comments, and complaints. **

**A quick shout out to Wolfie393 whose awesome story inspired the idea behind Luke. Thank you so much!**

**Thank you all for reading, hope you enjoy it!**

Luke Shepard had never been one for glory, but he had never really been one to follow the rules either. He followed his own code. If someone was guilty, they got punished. If they were innocent, he protected them. Maybe that was why he joined C-Sec almost eleven years earlier.

For the past year, he had worked the organized crime desk for Zakera Ward. Officer Armando-Owen Bailey had been his partner for a while until Shepard got promoted. He and Shepard normally saw eye to eye, "make the truth a priority, don't worry about the rulebook, and get results." Luke never knew why he had all of a sudden gotten the bump to detective simply because of his ideals but he didn't mind the bump in pay at all. It was not long after that he had met Garrus Vakarian, a turian with strong sense of right and wrong. They butted heads a little at first, but in time they became very close. They even had a shouting match with the Executor about letting a doctor named Saleon get away after killing dozens and taking many more hostage.

Luke and Garrus relaxed in the bullpen of the C-Sec satellite office in Zakera Ward watching some new turian and human recruits shuffle around trying desperately to find their paperwork.

"I still don't get it. You grew up on Mindoir with your parents and sisters, the girls enlisted in the military and you came to C-Sec. Why?"

"Look, I could never do the whole military, follow orders to the letter, 'yes sir', 'no sir' crap. I can barely take all the red tape here, but all I ever wanted to be was a cop. If Mindoir hadn't been attacked, I probably would have joined the local sheriff for the colony. Besides, the girls joined the military after I left." Luke interlaced his fingers behind his head and leaned back relaxing slightly. The horrors that he had seen on Mindoir were still haunting shadows in his memory but he had learned to bury his fear and his scars.

"So you haven't told me much about your sisters. I don't think you have ever even mentioned their names." Garrus said sipping on a cup of dextro-coffee.

"Your right. I haven't. I don't think I've really spoken to either of them since…" Luke thought for a moment. Claire and Mallory had been out of contact for nearly thirteen years. He saw them on the news every now and then but other than that, nothing.

"Vakarian! Shepard! Get your lazy butts up here!" Captain Palten was their boss and the turian made sure that everyone knew it. Luke smirked and rubbed his head of buzz cut, dark copper hair before heading up stairs to the captain's office. Garrus shook his head slowly and followed.

"Yeah, captain." Luke said crossing his arms and leaning against the far wall of the turian's office. There was something off about the captain's posture and his demeanor. He had bad news…well bad for him at least.

"Got a new assignment for you two. Just came down from the Council. The Executor wants my best on this, and spirits help me, it's you two."

"Captain, we're still digging into Fist. Some of our data is saying that he flipped on the Shadow Broker. We need to know why." Luke protested.

"Look I don't like this either but there is a spectre involved. There are charges of treason being brought against Saren Arterius. They say that he attacked Eden Prime with an army of Geth. It sounds utterly ridiculous to me but apparently there is enough evidence to warrant an investigation." Luke and Garrus straightened up. They had both heard of Saren in their reports and the stories around the stations. He was suppose to be the Council's top agent.

The two officers nodded and accepted the data drive before heading back down stairs to their info-screens. Garrus placed the disk on his omni-tool and downloaded the information. The files appeared on their screen and they started sorting through it.

After an hour, Garrus looked up at Luke. "Hey, is Shepard a common name for humans?" Shepard looked up at his friend.

"Not really, why?"

"Because it says that a Commander Claire Shepard and First Lieutenant Mallory Shepard were in command of the ground team." Luke sprung up from his chair and circled behind Garrus so that he could read over his shoulder.

"Normandy…Commander…" Luke read through the page quickly only saying every few words. "Damn it! Those are my sisters. How did they get mixed up with a dirty spectre?"

"We don't know he is dirty yet." Luke whipped around and punched in a few codes on his omni-tool bringing up the files he had been reading through. The displayed them across Garrus' screen and started pointing out the sections he wanted him to read.

"Every operation this guy has run ended with a mission completed and a lot of collateral damage. Like here, ten years ago a factory was blown up killing 300 civilians. A human was blamed and Saren got away clean. There are twenty more reports just like that. Where there is this much smoke there is definitely fire."

Garrus could not deny that his friend had a point, they had gone after criminals with less evidence and caught them, but this investigation was going to be different. Everything Saren touched was classified to the highest level. If they were going to find anything, they would have to dig deep and try to piece evidence together from raw intelligence.

"I'm in. What do you want to do?" Garrus asked looking up at his friend.

"You keep going through the files and see if you can find any leads. I'm going to snoop around my underworld contacts and see what I can find out. With luck, we'll find something before the Normandy docks and the hearing begins." Luke slipped his pistol onto his waste along with his badge and slipped an assault rifle onto his back. He didn't expect any really fighting but decided it would be best to change into his armor and keep his shields up. _When investigating a spectre, I should probably take every precaution._

His thought kept drifting back through the files as he placed and strapped the pieces of his armor on. The human C-Sec armor was a lot like the turian armor in colors but resembled light military armor in nearly every other aspect.

"You are going to stick out like a broken mandible in that armor, Shepard." Luke smiled at his friend. He had been trying to teach him a lot of the human analogies that were common as well as metaphors and other phrases. Garrus had even managed to turn a few to apply more to turians.

"Yeah but I won't get caught with my pants…or my shields down." Garrus chuckled and nodded before looking back to his files.

Luke had searched every file and questioned every contact he had and had not slept in nearly twenty-four hours. He was running on coffee and natural stem packs. As he collapsed into his chair at his desk, he found himself without his partner. He sighed hoping that Garrus had found more than he had. All he knew was that Fist had turned on the Shadow Broker and was now an agent for Saren. Whatever information Fist had was enough to cross the Shadow Broker for and join Saren. It was probably proof that Saren was in league with the Geth but He had no idea on how to get into Fist's office and get his files. If he used a warrant, Fist would destroy the data and run, but if he went in with guns blazing, he would be dead before he made it to the back room where Fist's office was.

Luke leaned back and closed his eyes for what seemed like only a minute but the next moment he opened them Garrus was sitting across from him reading more of the files.

"How long was I out?" Luke asked sitting forward again and rubbing his face.

"Maybe two hours. You needed the sleep." Garrus said scanning through another file.

"What did you find out?" Luke asked activating his omni-tool.

"That the Council wants this swept under the rug. The more I dug into the files the more I got the Citadel run-around. Everything is classified or not accessible. I tried to get the Executor to stall the hearing until we were done but he shut us down. Oh, ran into your sisters on my way back. They look fine." Garrus saw the news did nothing to change his friend's mood so he continued. "Anyway, the council threw out everything Udina and the Normandy crew put forward. Your sisters are looking into other ways to prove Saren's guilt."

"Then we are going to have to keep working this. I found a small lead. It may be nothing, but my gut tells me that it's something." Luke paused and looked around the bullpen. "The information was right about Fist. He flipped on the Shadow Broker and is working for Saren now."

Garrus' eyes went wide. "That is not just a lead, Luke. That could make the case. The Shadow Broker has even hired a bounty hunter to go after Fist for the betrayal but Fist hasn't run." Suddenly, Luke's omni-tool went off. He opened the message and stood slowly as he read it.

"Get your gun Garrus. Some of Fist's thugs are on their way over to the clinic to keep Dr. Michel quiet about something. This might be the start of his disappearing act." Garrus jumped to his feet and followed Luke out of the station grabbing his sniper rifle on the way.

The two officers moved slowly hugging the wall as the thugs threatened the doctor. They were all human of course, most likely because Fist was human and only hired human or krogan thugs to do his dirty work.

Luke had his pistol out and ready as Garrus retrieved his gun. He preferred his rifle from 100 meters or more but he was still a decent shot with his pistol. As they got ready to attack the heard the door open revealing four marines in full tactical gear.

"Who are you?" One of the thugs shouted as he took Dr. Michel in one arm and used her as a human shield.

"Let her go!" Came the response.

Luke leapt forward firing only once. The bullet ripped through the thugs head and he dropped to the floor releasing Dr. Michel. The human officer grabbed her by the arm and puller her down into one of the exam areas. Standing between her and the thugs, Luke fired twice before being joined by Garrus' own shots driving the attackers back into the far end of the office. The four marines charged into the battle and ripped the gangsters to pieces with their assault rifles.

As the last man slumped against the wall dead, Luke returned his pistol to his belt and turned to face the Marines. He smirked when he saw the two red head girls approaching. Even after thirteen years, he could see that they were his sisters. Their hair was the same color as their mother's and their eyes were like mirrors of his.

Garrus could not get over how pretty the two humans were. Most of the time he found something rather odd about human appearances but these two even with full armor on, they were quite appealing.

"Great timing. You gave me a clear shot at that bastard." Luke saw his sister's expression darken. There was a hint of confusion in her eyes as she slipped her rifle onto her back. Commander Claire Shepard stood at the same height as her sister Lieutenant Mallory Shepard but both stood a full inch or two shorter than their brother. _Do they even recognize me?_

"Are you crazy? You could have hit the hostage! Don't you think before you pull the trigger?" Commander Claire Shepard's eyes were burning with anger as she approached Luke.

"I could not risk this turning into a long dragged out hostage situation. This is a time sensitive job. Besides, I knew I wouldn't hit her." He felt stupid explaining his actions to his sister. He looked back at Garrus who immediately came to his aid.

"Dr. Michel, are you hurt?" Garrus asked stepping to his partner's side. The comment seemed to move the attention that had been on Luke to the doctor.

"No, I'm alright thanks to you. All of you." Her eyes darted from the turian and over to the group of humans.

"Why were those men after you?" Mallory asked. Luke leaned against the wall. Neither sister recognized him. It had been a decade, could they have forgotten him?

"They wanted to shut me up and keep me from telling Luke and Garrus about the quarian." The two officers looked at each other.

"What quarian?" The officers said in unison.

"She came in a few days ago. She had been shot but would not tell me what had happened. She wanted to deal with the Shadow Broker, trading information for safety or something, so I put her in contact with Fist, he's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Not anymore, now he works for Saren." Garrus' gaze shifted immediately to Claire as he spoke. Luke nodded his confirmation.

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker!? That's stupid even for him." Dr. Michel added.

"The quarian must have evidence that proves Saren is a traitor." Mallory said looking over at her sister.

"We can't let Saren get that evidence and I won't let Fist sacrifice an innocent life." Claire responded.

"Look, this is your show Commander. But take us along with you. We want Saren as bad as you do." Garrus said. Luke turned to look at his friend before looking back to his sisters. _Please take us with you._

"Fine. But you follow my orders to the letter. Agreed?" Claire's eyes drifted to Luke as if checking to make sure he agreed.

"You got it." Luke said nodding his understanding.

As the group turned to leave, another marine caught Luke's eye. She was a dark haired, tan skinned, beautiful woman. The fact that she was dressed in heavy armor simply enhanced her allure.

"You coming Luke!" Garrus said at the door. Luke jumped playfully and saluted dramatically before sprinting to fall back into step with the group next to Garrus.

Even though they were triplets, Claire had always been the responsible one; she took care of her siblings and obeyed their parents. Even when the slavers attacked Mindoir, she was the one that led Mallory and Luke to safety. She took that responsibility over everyone she met which ended up with her being awarded the Star of Terra for her heroic defense of Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz.

Mallory, on the other hand, followed he sister around trying to be just like her. She followed Claire into the military and even through the N7 training. She had made her own reputation as someone who could get the job done on Torfan where she led her platoon into the batarian held stronghold and cleared it room by room. She lost most of her squad in the operation but the mission was a success. Though she mourned them, everyone saw her as a bit ruthless.

Luke on the other hand was nothing like his sisters. On Mindoir, he had been the child that adults feared to hang out with their kids. Luke was always making trouble and had even tried fighting the slavers when they attacked the colony. After their parents were killed, the triplets were placed in foster care but Luke ran away and ended up on the Citadel working in a tech shop. Of course, he could not work there forever and decided to join C-Sec. He had not seen his sisters since they were sixteen and now, he was not even sure if they knew he was their brother._ Maybe they know it's me but are ignoring me to try and teach me a lesson… _


	2. Chapter 2

**And here is chapter 2. Hope y'all are enjoying it. Please comment and let me know what you think.**

The music could still be heard from behind the doors of Chora's Den but the club looked completely deserted. No doorman, no guards, nothing.

"They'll have an ambush waiting for us right inside the door." Claire said taking her rifle from her back. The group followed suit and charged their firing chambers. "We'll have to get through the door fast. Alenko, bring up a barrier as soon as the door opens. Williams, Mallory, cover right. Luke, Garrus, and I will cover left." The male marine placed his rifle back on his back and started to glow blue as he summoned his biotic abilities.

The door opened and the bullets started flying. Alenko's barrier deflected most of the enemy fire while the groups shields did the rest. The group crowded together in the entry way pelting the defenders with bullets. Luke felt a round ricochet off his shields and glanced up to see a thug firing down from the stage at him. "Garrus, left of the central column on the stage!" The reaction was instantaneous. The turian swung his sniper rifle up peered through the sight for no more than half a second and fired. The thug dropped and group moved forward. Mallory led Alenko and Williams around the right side of the bar while Claire led Luke and Garrus around to the left. The eliminated the rest of the guards with relative ease before meeting at the door that led to Fist's office.

"Alenko, Williams, Mallory, hold here and make sure no one comes up behind us. Garrus, Luke, you too know Fist. You're coming with me." Luke nodded his confirmation. She was calling him by name but still didn't recognize him. _How can she not tell that I'm her brother?_

As the three moved into the back room, the saw fist scamper across his office and press a security console. Two tripod defense guns raised out of the floor and immediately opened fire on the squad. Garrus dove across the room to take cover on the other side.

"Are you any good with tech?" Claire asked.

"I worked in tech shop doing repairs for two years before I joined C-Sec, I'm sure I can come up with something." Luke brought up his omni-tool and overloaded one of the turrets. The weapon exploded violently sending Fist to the floor and allowing Garrus to put a bullet through the firing chamber of the other defensive gun. The turret caught fire and crumpled as sparks flew and the turret turned to scrap metal. Claire, Luke, and Garrus all stepped out of cover to find Fist cowering on the floor defenseless.

"What the hell do you want!?" Fist shouted. Claire pulled her pistol and took aim at his head. The man cowered under the barrel.

"The quarian. Where is she?"

"The quarian? She's not here. Said she would only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."

"Impossible, the Broker only works through his agents." Garrus said.

"Yeah, but she didn't know that. So I set up a meeting, but when she gets there it will be Saren's men." Luke made his way behind Fist's desk and took his OSD off the floor. He scanned it quickly with his omni-tool. It was all the evidence C-Sec would ever need to lock Fist up until he died.

"Where is the meeting and when?" Claire snarled.

"Here in the wards. Back alley. Should be going down about now." Fist sneered.

"Damn it! Let's move!" Claire shouted. She darted from the room.

"Go Garrus! I got Fist." Luke shouted. Garrus nodded and sprinted after Claire. _I hope Garrus doesn't say anything about me._ Any kind of introduction was going to be weird after thirteen years but he was hoping to do it himself.

Luke made his way over to Fist and placed a pair of shackles on him. He lifted him up onto his feet and started escort him toward the door.

"Fist, you have the right to remain silent. Although your OSD says plenty. You have the right to an advocate but I don't think the expensive ones will touch you with a ten foot pole, but don't worry, we'll find you the dumbest advocate on Zakera Ward." The man sighed as Luke lead him out the door. No sooner had Luke and Fist made it out into the club when a Krogan burst through the door. Luke recognized the bounty hunter immediately from the long scars down his face and neck. He had seen the Krogan at C-Sec academy when he was brought in for threatening Fist.

"Out of the way human! I have no quarrel with you." Luke stepped in front of Fist.

"Fist has been neutralized and I need him, Wrex. If he ever escapes, feel free to gun him down. Hell, I'll even shoot him a few times after you do, but until then Fist stays in my custody alive and goes to prison."

"Bad move. The Shadow Broker paid me a lot of money to get rid of him. No human C-Sec whelp is going to stop me." Wrex took a step forward. Luke had dealt with Krogan before but Wrex was different. An idealist… at least he was compared to other Krogan mercenaries.

Luke reeled back and rammed his head into Wrex's head plate. The hit was so hard it bloodied his forehead but he stayed firm in his stance and refused to allow Wrex to pass. "Take another step forward and I will put you down Wrex."

Wrex rubbed his head plate before chuckling and allowing the hint of smile to cross his face. "You got a quad human. Who are you?"

"Officer Luke Shepard." Luke's response caused the Krogan's eyes to narrow.

"I heard about someone named Shepard going after Saren. Wouldn't be you would it?" Wrex leaned forward looking straight into the human's face.

"Actually, that's Commander Claire Shepard. She was here a little bit ago helping me take down Fist. You want in on the hunt for Saren, talk too her?" Luke said stepping back and taking a firm hold on Fist's arm.

"Sounds like that's where the action is going to be." Wrex said nodding.

"Commander Shepard is the XO of the SSV Normandy SR-1. The elevator to the docking bay in C-Sec Academy should be how they are heading back to the ship. Just chill there for a while and join up when she comes by. Having a Krogan on her crew would probably tickle her a bit." Luke gave Fist a shove and the two made their way toward the door.

"What about you Luke? You gonna be there too?" Wrex's question caused Luke to pause. He had not thought about leaving C-Sec since Saleon got away, but Saren was a threat and that fight was going to be fierce. Besides, if he knew Garrus, the turian had probably already joined the expedition.

"This is unfinished business for me. If she'll bring me along, I plan on going." With that Luke moved out the door and called for a C-Sec shuttle to pick him up.

Processing Fist took some time but once he was in the system, Luke had him placed in isolation for his own protection. There was no doubt in his mind that the Shadow Broker knew Fist was in prison and might try to kill him again to keep him from talking.

"That is one great arrest, Shepard. Heard your sisters and a couple marines lent you a hand in the take down." Captain Palten crossed his arms as he looked down at his officer.

"They were running their own investigation on the same events. I just figured that having Fist off the streets was a bonus win for us." Luke said as he finished typing on his interface.

"Damn right. Oh and I heard that they made Commander Shepard the first human Spectre and stripped Saren of his status. I guess that makes our investigation closed huh?" The captain was digging, trying to find out if Luke was going to drop the investigation as ordered.

_Red tape. There is nothing here but red tape. Arrest an innocent man so an agent of the council can do whatever they want. I have to see this through. Even if I have to join my sister, I have to finish this._

"Actually Captain, I don't think this investigation is over yet. Saren is still out there." Luke turned off his network interface and slouched back in his chair.

"Shepard, the Executor has ordered us off the case. Fist in custody, Saren is on the run, and your sister is chasing him. This is a win, case closed." Luke lurched forward and brought up his interface screen again.

"No, it's not closed. Saren is a threat. Look at his files. He kills people every time he is on a mission. Not just his target, he kills hundreds of people. The guy is a public health hazard." Luke argued as he flipped through several reports.

"Shepard drop it!" the captain ordered.

"NO! I have had enough of the bull shit around here. There is so much red tape we can't do our jobs! I quit!" Luke ripped off his badge and slammed it down on his desk.

"Shepard, you don't want to do this." As the captain was about to continue, his omni-tool pinged with a new message. The turian sighed and opened it as Luke turned and walked away. "Spirits! Where's Vakarian?" The captain's aggravated shout made Luke smile.

"I'm guessing he's where I'm headed." Luke responded without turning.

"You both can't quit like this!"

"I believe we just did." Luke walked out the door with a grin on his face. Bailey was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest with a smirk on his face.

"Always figured you would go vigilante in the end." Luke smiled and shook his old partner's hand.

"Not yet, but here's hoping. I'm gonna keep chasing Saren with my sisters and Garrus. Besides, what do they need me for when they have you." It was that moment that he noticed the silver bars on Bailey's shoulders. "Lieutenant…"

Bailey shook his head and wet his lips. "Their trying to stick me behind a desk Shepard. I don't like this. I belong on the streets." Luke pat his friend on the shoulder and started toward the rapid transit.

"Don't worry Bailey. I'm sure you'll screw up really bad one of these days and they'll bust back to sergeant." Luke punched C-Sec Academy into the console before turning back to this old partner and shaking his hand.

"Keep alert out there Shepard. Do us proud." Bailey's remark made Luke smiled wider.

"You too Bailey. Remember, Ward streets can be as bad as Earth cities." The shuttle arrived and Luke climbed in.

_What am I doing? I just threw my career away…to go after Saren. I read the reports. He has to be stopped and if Claire is going to try then I have to go along. But what the hell am I going to tell her? Would she even take me once she finds out who I am?_

The argument continued in his own mind for an hour or so before the shuttle landed in C-Sec Academy and he saw Claire, Garrus, Mallory, and Wrex step into the elevator. He leapt from his seat and slipped into the elevator right as the door closed.

"Luke, what are you doing here?" Claire asked as he straightened up and took a deep breath.

"This is your mission Commander, but I want Saren taken down too. Ask Garrus, I never give up on a case until it's closed." Garrus nodded his confirmation as Claire's eyes drifted to him. She wet her lips looking back to the officer then over to her sister.

"Luke might be useful. You saw him fight with us to get Fist. Besides, when Tali asked to join up, you said we could use all the help we could get." Mallory spoke in a soft tone but with a cold objectiveness to it. _Garrus hasn't said anything. They still don't know I'm their brother. They're looking at me in a professional way. Thank God._

Claire wet her lips before nodding her approval and smiling slightly. "Welcome aboard, Luke."

"Thank you Commander. You won't regret this." Luke glanced at Garrus. The turian shook his head as the elevator climbed to the docks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is chapter 3... I know 1, 2, and 3 have been really close together but I was kind of on a roll today.**

**Please let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

Luke, Garrus, and Wrex looked around the cargo bay. The frigate was small compared to other ships but they had gotten a peek in the engine room and the drive core caused their jaws to drop. It was massive. The ship would not just fly. The damn thing could out fly most fighters and scout frigates. Not to mention the stealth systems hiding them from non-visual scanners. It was the perfect ship for a spectre.

"Whatever, I'll be over there cleaning my gun." Wrex was obviously not as impressed with the ship as Luke and Garrus were but maybe that was just because he was a krogan. Most would rather shoot things than build or study anything.

The two former C-Sec officers watched the krogan walk away and made their way over to the land vehicle used to ground team insertion, the Mako. Garrus leaned against the tank looking down at his friend.

"You still haven't told either of them who you are yet, have you?" Luke looked up at his friend before sighing and sitting down on the floor using the Mako's massive tire as a back rest.

"What am I supposed to say? 'Hi, sorry I abandoned you after the massacre but hey I'm here now after thirteen years.' Man, I'm not sure if I can ever forgive myself for that. Besides, have you told your dad that you quit C-Sec and are running around with a spectre?" Garrus cleared his throat and started to run diagnostics on the Mako's weapons systems. "I didn't think so."

Luke stood up and saw the marine that had caught his eye in the clinic. Claire had called her Williams when they had attacked Chora's Den. He wanted to say something to her but could not think of anything at all. _Should I comment on her combat ability, how she looks in armor, how great she looks in uniform? She looks really good in uniform._ Luke quickly realized that he was staring with his head cocked to the side. He quickly straightened up and took a slow breath. He noticed she was taking her rifle apart to clean it and smirked. It wouldn't be smooth, but he had a way in now.

He took a breath and made his way across the cargo bay toward the equipment table. As he came along side Williams he placed his pistol on the table and started working in silence. He noticed her glance at him out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at her.

"Hey." It was all he could manage to get out. _What is wrong with me? I have run into burning buildings, taken down gangsters, and wrestled a krogan to the ground. Why is talking to this girl so hard?_

"Hey." _At least I got a response._

"So I read the reports about what happened on Eden Prime. I'm sorry about your unit." _Damn it, you idiot! Don't talk about her massacred unit. Way to kill the conversation._

"Thanks, if it hadn't been for Shepard and the rest of her squad, I think I'd probably be dead too." The girl lowered her eyes and stopped cleaning.

Luke sighed as he ran the cleaning brush over the action of his pistol. "But you survived to fight another day, and now we're going after the bastard that did it."

"And when we find him, I'm going to shoot him twice for every marine in the 212." Luke smiled. He liked her fire. She was independent and driven, not to mention extremely attractive.

"By the way, I don't think I caught your first name." Luke offered his hand. The girl looked over at him with a smile playing lightly across her lips. She placed her hand in his and shook it.

"Ashley." Luke smiled back at her before turning his attention back to his pistol. "What about you? Why would you throw away your career at C-Sec to chase after Saren?"

Luke looked over at her with a little smile on his face. "Because Saren is a bad guy, you should see his files. It is dripping with innocent blood. For all the operations I read through completely, the death count numbered in the thousands, might have even broke ten thousand if we get an accurate count of how many people died on Eden Prime. Besides, when I get a case, I'm like a bulldog with a bone. I latch on and I don't let go until it's done." Ashley smiled and started putting her rifle back together.

"You and Shepard are a lot alike."

"Which one?" Luke asked playing dumb.

"Both of them. The commander always wants to make sure that everyone gets justice and always accomplishes the mission with as little loss of life as possible. The lieutenant is the same but she just doesn't see all the options at once. She can get anything done but sometimes it costs her and the people with her."

"I've heard that they both have reputations as war heros. What's it like having them both on board?" Ashley smiled with a light laugh.

"You'd have to ask Lieutenant Alenko. I only met them about 48 hours ago. But from what I saw on Eden Prime and the Citadel, they live up to their reputation." Luke nodded. And finished cleaning his pistol. "You were pretty good in Chora's Den too."

"Thanks, so were you." Luke held his eyes down and started putting his pistol back together. "Well, I should probably get back to the Mako. Garrus loves tinkering with weapons but he can't tune up an engine to save his life." Luke placed his pistol back in his locker and smiled at Ashley as he made his way back over to the Mako.

"Didn't you clean your gun as soon as you got back to the station with Fist?" Garrus asked as Luke opened the engine compartment of the Mako.

"Yeah."

Claire sat in the co-pilot's seat as the Normandy's pilot, Jeff "Joker" Moreau, plotted a course through the relay system to the Artimus Tau Cluster. She rubbed the back of her neck stretching and put her knees of the arm rests.

"What's on your mind Shepard?" Joker asked. He was the best pilot in the Alliance fleet in but his condition limited him to flying frigates and cruisers. Joker had brittle bone disease. He had trouble moving and if he sneezed to hard it could break his ribs, but he was worth it. No other pilot in the Alliance was as skilled with handling a ship like the Normandy.

"That cop we brought on board, Luke. Do you have access to his file up here?" Claire asked leaning forward.

"Yeah, C-Sec files are pretty easy to get. Um…" Joker scrolled through a few screens before he found a picture of Luke. "Holy crap…"

"What?" Claire jumped to her feet and came up alongside Joker so she could read over his shoulder. "Birthday April 11, 2154 CE. On Mindoir. Resident on the Citadel for thirteen years, C-Sec officer for eleven years." Joker looked up at Claire as her jaw dropped. "This is… he's…" She could not even finish her sentence. She immediately sprinted down the hall and down the stairs, nearly running over Mallory.

"What has you in such a rush?" Mallory asked.

"It's… It's…" Claire felt tears rolling down her face. She grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her into the elevator.

"Claire, what's going on?" Mallory was starting to get worried. She had never seen her sister break down like this. Not since the attack on Mindoir.

"Damned elevator's…to slow…" Claire sobbed.

The door opened to the cargo bay and the two Shepard girls stepped out. Luke was up wiping the some oil from his hands after tuning up the Mako and making a joke with Garrus. Claire did not wait to explain her actions. She charged forward tackling the man and hugging him tightly. Caught by surprise, Luke fell back into the Mako before steadying himself and hugging her back.

"I guess you figured out who I am?" Luke said with a smile. Claire leaned back looking at her long lost brother.

"You knew? You knew and you didn't say anything? Thirteen years Luke, thirteen years we weren't sure if you were alive or dead. You didn't even have the decency to send a message to let us know you were alive. Now you wait until you are on my ship and…and…" She started sobbing again. Luke pulled her in for a hug. Mallory was just standing there glued to her spot with her mouth agape.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you or Mal."

"How about 'hey, remember me. I'm your brother'?" Mallory spat.

Claire backed away from Luke and wiped her eyes quickly. "Let's head up to my quarters. It's a little open down here." She said looking around at all the eyes that were now focused solely on them.

Luke and Mallory followed their sister into the elevator , right as the door closed Mallory turned and slugged Luke in the jaw. He took a few steps to the side holding his chin before looking up at his sister. "What the hell Mal?"

"You don't get to call me that. You abandoned us in that foster home. You left us and now your back and we are all suppose to be one big happy family." Mallory had tears in her eyes. Luke wiped his mouth and stood up straight again.

"Maybe not happy, but maybe a little less violent." Claire smiled at her brother's remark. He had not changed much from when they were kids, still a jokester and still rather stoic when it came to his showing his emotions. They stepped off the elevator and headed straight for Claire's quarters. Luke noticed out that Alenko was watching them walk by with his eyes glued on Mallory. _Interesting…_ Luke thought.

The doors closed behind them and Luke immediately pulled both girls into a hug. Claire immediately hugged him back, but Mallory just stood there waiting to be released. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I just…I don't know…I guess I figured that if I hadn't forgiven myself for leaving you two, what chance did have that you would?"

"We're all together again. That's what counts. I want hear everything. What have you been doing at C-Sec? What did you do when you got to the Citadel?" Claire was over playing her part. _Always the peace keeper. Even when we were kids you would settle arguments between me and Mal. I know you're just as mad at me as she is. Don't hold back to spare my feelings._

"Claire, thanks for trying but Mal's right. I left you two and you are just as mad at me as she is. So just let me say this. I should have called or messaged or something while I was on the Citadel but I did follow you two in your careers. I thought about writing to you both probably a million times and I always missed you but after a few years, I figured you'd forgotten about me." Luke paused refusing to look up at his sisters. "I guess that's why I was working so hard to try and catch Saren. Maybe I could see you two again, convince you to take me with you, and we could…be a family again. I missed you two." Claire smiled slightly and looked over at Mallory.

"Why did you leave?" Mallory asked sitting down in the desk chair. Claire's smile faded as their brother leaned against the wall.

"I don't know. Mom and Dad were gone, we were in a new place, surrounded by strangers… everyone kept asking if we were okay… we were kids. How were we suppose to be okay?" Tears started rolling down his face as the memories broke the dam that had held them back for all those years.

_He wakes to an explosion shaking the prefab and the roar of engines above him. Vaulting from the bed he peers out the window to see Batarian slaver-ships descending and shuttles landing. His father appears in the door way with a pistol in his hand. "Hannah, I've got Luke. Get the girls." Then they are running. No shoes and no shirt. His father fires as a batarian that steps in the way. The alien's head explodes. Blood splatters on to his bare chest as his father pulls him along with the girls and their mother behind them. Suddenly, his father lurches forward and falls as a stream of blood spews from his chest. His mother screams falls next to her husband's body. They hear the slavers coming up behind them. Claire grabs Mallory and Luke by the hand and starts pulling them toward the woods. He jerks free and runs back to his mother as she screams her protests at him telling him to run. The next instant, her head jolts to the side and a fresh spray of blood covers him from head to toe. "Mom!" He howls. Stooping to retrieve his father's pistol, he takes aim at the approaching group of slavers and pulls the trigger over and over again until the weapon overheated. He turned and ran._

"We still aren't. I still have nightmares about that day. I dream about the Blitz, Mindoir, Eden Prime, the damned beacon, and a hundred other places. But that is no reason to run off on us…" Claire sat on the bed hugging her knees to her chest. Luke looked up at his sister then over to Mallory. They had been through far more than he had, even as a C-Sec officer.

"I guess I just wanted to get away from everything. Go somewhere that no one would know me or pity me. A fresh start. You know? I'm sorry I left you behind but every time I look at you too, even now, I see mom." Claire nodded. She understood.

"I guess all three of us needed a fresh start. You found yours on the Citadel and we got ours in the Alliance. I do have to admit it, you look a lot like dad." The siblings started talking about their memories on Mindoir, their careers, and some of the relationships they had had over the years.


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter sticks pretty close to the story line but with some little extra bits here and there. Enjoy!**

The Normandy had jumped from the Athens system to the Sparta system of the Artimus Tau cluster and had found no sign of Dr. Liara T'soni, Matriarch Benezia's daughter. They had uncovered a slaver camp and a pirate haven and took a little pleasure in burning the encampments to the ground.

Luke sat with Ashley cleaning their weapons in the cargo bay. Garrus watched his friend with a smile hidden by his mandibles. Luke had been alone for as long as he had known him. Garrus turned back to the diagnostics of the Mako.

"How's it holding up?" Garrus turned to see Claire standing there placing her hand on the Mako. Garrus cleared his throat and brought up his scans.

"I have to recalibrate the shield interfaces. They were built for resisting small arms fire, not missiles and tumbling down mountains." Garrus said pointing out the stress points in the system.

"Is that a comment on my driving skills Vakarian?" Claire placed her hands on her hips and shifted were gaze to the turian.

"Um…" Garrus started.

"Confirm nothing. Deny everything Garrus!" Luke called from across the cargo bay. Ashley laughed. Garrus' mandibles flared slightly as let out a small chuckle.

"I get it. I get it. Well, just so you know Garrus, you, Wrex, and Luke will be on the next ground team. We've got about four hours until were reach Therum. Make sure you and the Mako are ready to deploy." Claire smiled as Garrus straightened up and nodded.

"No problem Shepard." Claire shook her head and looked over at Luke.

"Hey, since there are three Shepards on this ship, how about you just call me Claire." Garrus stopped and looked back at the woman. There was a slight redness to her cheeks but he paid it little mind.

"Okay Claire. Everything will be ready before we drop." Claire nodded and turned to head for the elevator. She could feel her cheeks burning. _What am I doing? I don't have time for this. The mission has to come first. Get a grip Shepard._

The planet was what Luke would have thought Hell might look like. Molten lava lakes with metallic demon firing at them at every turn all the while searching for someone who may not even be there. Luke shook his head as he fired the main fun at a Geth armature. The shot ripped though the mech's shields and Garrus finished it off with the machine gun.

"That canyon up ahead looks like a death trap. We should find a way around." Garrus said as Claire slowed down. Luke used the targeting matrix to zoom in on the fortification in front of them. Three Geth turrets were positioned to make any approach they tried under heavy fire. Not to mention the doors were controlled from the inside of the compound.

"Garrus is right. Pull up my view on your vid screen. All avenues of approach are covered and that gate would hold up against the Normandy's main gun for at least an hour." Luke said punching in a code into his console and brought up a scan of the metal in the walls of the encampment. They were too thick to punch through and the metal would was solid. No other access points.

"There, thirty meters a head on the right. See it?" Claire said pointing. Luke turned his view. There was a small opening in the wall of the canyon. It was wide enough for the Mako to fit through but very well concealed.

"We don't know what's in there Shepard." Garrus said as he typed the parameters of a search into his console trying to scan the surrounding area.

"No choice." Claire slammed on the gas and the Mako lurched forward. The Geth towers at the far end of the canyon opened fire sending missiles straight for them. Luke turned the turret and fired the cannon once. The round missed the missiles but the interference from the round seemed enough to send one of them off course. The vehicle made it through the gap in the wall as the two remaining missiles impacted and detonated on the canyon wall.

"Shepard, Geth tower at eleven o'clock." Garrus shouted. The machine gun opened up on the weapon as Luke turned and targeted the launcher. The tower fired but Claire hit the thrusters sending them up out of the missile's path but the Mako hit a structure causing the vehicle to jolt. They landed back on the ground hard tossing everyone again. Luke was sure that if it had not been for the inertia dampeners, the impact would have probably hurt them stead of merely disorienting them.

"Luke fire!" Claire shouted. Luke pulled the trigger and the cannon erupted causing the tower to explode. He looked over at his sister and started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Claire asked turning to look at Luke.

Luke calmed himself enough to speak. "Maybe Garrus was making a comment on your driving." Wrex chuckled as Luke started laughing again. Garrus looked away from Claire hiding his amused look with a mask of focus.

"Guess what funny guy… you get latrine duty when we get back to the ship." Luke stopped laughing immediately. Claire turned around and started forward again. Garrus managed to see a small smile play across her face. _She is enjoying having Luke around, but still trying to keep command. I guess with all us non-alliance squad members she kind of has to._

The Mako roared down the small canyon and came up over the hill to see the interior of the encampment. Garrus opened fire with the machine gun while Luke fired the cannon. The bout between the Mako and the Geth defenders was short and ended with all the synthetics as little more than scrap metal.

The vehicle slowed to a stop at the far end of the compound where a second gate blocked their path. "Let me and Wrex out. We'll clear these two buildings and get the gate open." Luke said adjusting his armor and pulling his pistol.

"I like this plan." Wrex said from the back seat. He had not done any fighting since they dropped. He was getting restless.

"Alright, but as soon as that gate comes down, I want you both back here." Luke made and exaggerated salute before exiting the vehicle.

The air was hot and very dry. It reminded Luke of the heating vents on the Citadel. He had chased a man named Ellias Kellam through the tunnels a year after he joined C-Sec. Luke brought up his omni-tool and adjusted the temperature control for his armor and started moving forward.

"You take the right and I'll take the left?" Luke suggested to the krogan. Wrex nodded and headed for the other building with his shotgun out and ready.

As Luke took cover next to the door way, he flipped the safety off on his pistol. He tooka deep breath ready to announce his presence as he was trained to do when entering a building to make an arrest. He stopped himself and shook his head.

_I have to start thinking like a soldier. Everything inside should be considered hostile. Shoot on sight. Come on, Luke. Focus._

He turned the corner and started moving slowly forward. He could hear something else moving. Metal on metal. It was heavy. Then he saw it, the gleam of the flashlight head of the geth. He moved forward as quietly and quickly as he could bringing his pistol up and taking aim. As the being turned the corner, Luke started firing and charged forward. The projectiles ripped through the synthetic's armor and splattered what appeared to be some kind of coolant all over the wall behind it.

"Luke, I heard shots. What's going on?" Luke looked down at his com-unit and rolled his eyes.

"Nothing, just a straggler. I've taken care of it." Luke snapped he found the controls of the gate and brought it down.

As Wrex and Luke climbed back into the Mako, Luke let Wrex take over the canon as he settled into the back seat. "You okay?" Garrus asked.

"Fine, just giving Wrex some entertainment." Garrus nodded. There was something on Luke's mind but no way of telling what it was. When he felt like sharing, he would.

"Hello, can you hear me out there? I'm trapped I need help!" The asari cried from inside the security field. Luke had his assault rifle out and level watching the open cavern for any signs of movement.

"What's going on with you?" Garrus asked kneeling beside him and steadying his rifle on the guard rail.

"I was never military Garrus. All my instincts are honed for C-Sec work. I almost announce my arrival when I turned the corner into the gate house. I even hesitated to open fire…" Luke's voice was kept to a low whisper so Claire could not hear him.

"You'll get use to it." Garrus said. Luke looked over at his friend and sighed.

"That's what I'm afraid of. I'm a cop Garrus. All I've ever known is how to be a cop. What's may purpose for being here other than pulling your ass out of the fire?"

Garrus chuckled and nodded. "You're here to finish what we started. You're still a cop, Luke. Just not saddled by red tape anymore." Luke nodded with a small smile on his face. _No red tape. If I need to take someone down, I don't have to follow C-Sec rules anymore. No more getting the enemy in my sights and being told not to fire._

"Alright guys, we need to find a way past there containment shields. Let's head down into the cavern and see what we can find." Claire said turning around and starting down the ramp. Wrex followed her with Luke and Garrus close behind.

Suddenly, Claire signaled for them to stop and conceal themselves. Luke started look around trying to figure out what caused his sister's sudden reaction. Then, like death itself, the geth appeared moving silently and slowly below them. They were ready to ambush them.

Claire pointed to Garrus and held her hands as if holding a sniper rifle then pointed to the balcony where they had just come from. Garrus nodded and moved to the railing above them and steadied his aim ready to fire. The commander pointed to Wrex and signaled for him to go up the middle while she crossed to the right flank and supported him while Luke covered them on the left flank.

They group moved forward and sprang into action. Claire and Luke threw grenades as Wrex charged into the fray plowing over a Geth trooper as Garrus shot the head off of a rocket trooper. Luke charged forward and drilled a geth trooper in the head with his assault rifle.

Concluding the initial action, Wrex moved forward with Claire as Luke stopped to examine some of the equipment in the area. Garrus came down the ramp and stood at Luke's back as he examined the machinery.

"Luke, is that mining laser still operational?" Luke looked over at his sister as she walked by looking at the large machine.

"You are not thinking about… Claire that's crazy." Luke protested but Claire brought up the controls on the laser and smiled over at her brother. "We have no idea what this thing might do."

"Will it get through the containment shields?" Luke turned and studied where the laser was aimed and the machine itself.

Luke sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, it will cut through the ground and shields in a couple of seconds but after that we maybe racing lava to get out." Claire smirked. Luke sighed and brought up the laser's control console. The sequencing had been erased. He would have to reprogram it completely.

After a couple minutes, the laser roared to life and fired. The vibrations knocked everyone off their feet until the laser dissipated and shut down. "Looks like we overloaded the circuits. It's just a piece of scrap now." Luke said standing and kicking the laser.

Claire led the group into the structure that held Dr. T'soni. Luke took a look around. The tower was a Prothean ruin. The tiling in the alcoves reminded him of the shower floors in his apartment back on the Citadel.

They took a lift to the level where Dr. T'soni was trapped. Claire shut down the stasis field holding the asari and helped her to her feet. "We need to get out of here." Claire said softly looking around. "We can't go back the way we came."

"There is an elevator in the central chamber…at least I think it's an elevator." Dr. T'soni's voice was soft and sounded more like that of a preteen than an adult. Luke smiled as she led them back into the tower. Suddenly, there was a low rumble and the tower shook.

"What did I tell you? Racing lava!" Luke shouted at his sister. Dr. T'soni raced over to a console and the elevator started to rise.

"Once we get to the top we make a break for the surface." Claire said to the group. "Joker, get the Nromandy airborne and lock in on my coordinates, on the double mister."

"_Aye aye Commander, ETA 8 minutes."_ Joker's voice sounded over the comms.

"If we die because he's late, I'll kill him." Wrex grunted.

The elevator reached the top of the tower but the escape route was blocked by a krogan and squad of Geth shock troopers.

"Surrender or don't, that would be more fun." The krogan snarled.

"This whole place is coming down." Claire explaimed.

"I know. Exciting isn't it?" The krogan responded. Luke saw the geth spreading out to flank them. He knew Garrus saw it too.

"We can come to some kind of agreement." Claire said taking a step forward. As she did another tremor rippled up the tower.

"We don't have time to negotiate with this idiot! Charge!" Luke's outburst was unexpected to say the least but his actions kicked everyone into action. Wrex charged the other krogan while Garrus fired on the geth to the right and Luke sprinted toward the geth on the right riddling them with holes. The Geth went down quickly but the krogan was proving difficult even for Wrex. Claire was firing bursts from her assault rifle trying to support him but the other krogan had upgraded his armor with extra shield modulators. Luke cut behind the enemy and modified his ammunition to fire shredding rounds, used in combat against organic targets. He pulled the trigger and poured the fire onto the krogan without stopping. As he did, the krogan turned realizing he was get hit in the back. The krogan's shields went down and he fell but managed to get a single shot off that.

"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Claire shouted. Luke looked at her as she ran for the exit with Wrex, Dr. T'soni, and Garrus behind her. He wasn't moving to well. The krogan's shotgun blast had hit him directly in the upper right side of his chest. Luckily his shields and armor with stood enough that it was only a minor wound. He replaced his rifle on his back and, holding his right arm to his side to keep from hurting his chest or shoulder any more, he sprinted after the team.

He didn't know how they did it but somehow all five of them had made it back to the Normandy. He watched as the dig sight was swallowed by a geyser of lava while the Normandy ascended. He exhaled a breath of relief and winced at his wound.

"Hey Luke, nice job taking down that krogan, but next time wait for my command to attack." Claire said as she set her equipment on the cleaning table.

"I got it Commander." Luke slowly made his way over to the elevator before hearing his sister's voice again.

"Luke, leave your weapons and armor down here. No weapons outside the bay, you know that." Claire jogged after her brother. Luke stripped the weapons off himself with his left arm and dropped them next to the Mako.

"I'll clean them when I come back down." Claire caught up to him and immediately covered her mouth.

"Damn it Luke. When did you get hit?"

"The krogan got me right as he went down. It's just a couple scratches. I'm just gonna go up to the Med-bay and le the doc clean me up a little." Luke nodded and stepped into the elevator. Claire shook her head as her brother stuck his tongue out at her.

"Luke got hit?" Ashley asked coming up alongside Claire once the door had closed.

"Minor wound, he'll be fine. Grab his weapons for me would you. Clean them and place them in his locker." She paused looking back at the elevator before heading back to work on her own weapons. "Remind me to order him some new armor as well."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this took so long but I finally got it up. I tried to do a bit more character development in this chapter. Enjoy and let me know what you think.**

Dr. T'soni was odd to say the least. She spent most of her time in the back lab behind the medbay. Claire had gone over to check on her a few times and Dr. Chawkwas was getting to know her fairly well too. Everyone else seemed to be steering clear. No one was really sure if they trusted her yet thanks to her family ties.

Luke sat in the mess hall across from Mallory sipping on coffee and munching on bagels. Mallory had made hers into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but it was becoming a bit of a mess. Luke laughed at some jelly landed in her lap.

"You know you are a lot different than how I remember you." Luke said handing her a napkin. She shook her head.

"That's what happens when you don't see someone for thirteen years and then show up." Luke hung his head, she was still mad…

_I can't blame her for being angry with me, but Claire seems to have forgiven me. Why not Mal? _"Look Mal, I told you I was sorry. I told you why I ran."

"What you didn't say is why not run with us? Why not take us with you? I know we are triplets but I always looked up to you and Claire. Now, I don't even know who you are. You told us about your life on the Citadel, but you never told us who you had become." Mallory set her bagel down wet her lips. A few of the other crew members were in the mess hall but they all seemed engrossed in their own conversations.

"Mal, I told you. I'm a cop. There's not much more to it." Luke said taking a bite of his bagel.

"Not good enough." Mallory got up, collected her bagel and stormed off toward the crew quarters. Luke sighed as he watch Mallory leave. He placed his head in his hands and his elbows on the table.

"Well that looked bad." Ashley said sitting down next to him.

"You know how close you are with your sisters?" Luke asked not looking up. Ashley smiled slightly.

"Yeah."

"Mallory and me are the exact opposite. I ran out on Claire and Mal right after our parents died and never contacted them again. I left them for thirteen years. If one of your sisters did that, do you think you could forgive them?" Luke looked up at Ashley as she bit her lip before sighing and shaking her head.

"I guess I would be pretty mad at them, but you're here now. That's something." Ashley placed her hand on his shoulder.

"She wants to know who I am now compared to who I was." Luke turned to face Ashley. "I don't even remember the kid I was before the attack on Mindoir. Everything about me changed. I guess the only thing that stayed the same about me is my name."

"Oh come on. There has got to be something else." Ashley took his hand. "Think about it. What did you and your sisters do together?"

Luke smiled slightly. He knew Ashley was trying to help, but every time he thought about those days on the colony with his family, he always started reliving their escape. _Running… Blood… Death…_

"Ash, I know you're trying to help, But there are some things that just need to stay buried. Mindoir is one of those things." Luke pushed his bagel away and stood up.

As he made his way for the elevator, Claire turned the corner. Ashley stood and saluted her commander but Claire shook her head.

"No need to be formal right now, Williams." Claire sat down across from her and relaxed stretching out her arms and legs.

"I don't get Luke, ma'am. He gets me to talk about everything but when I ask him about anything, he is evasive or talks without saying anything." Ash looked over her shoulder as she heard the door for the elevator open.

"He's always been that way. I'm his sister and I have never known what does on in that head of his. I think that is his way." Claire sighed and folded her hands interlacing her fingers.

"You and the lieutenant seem to be good at communicating. I know more about you two than I do about Luke and I've spent more time with him… I just wish he would trust me." Ashley looked back at where Luke had disappeared around the corner and sighed.

"It's not about trust." Someone said from behind them. Claire smiled as Garrus took a seat with a tray of food that looked absolutely revolting to the two humans, although judging from the way Garrus poked at the goop on his tray, it must not have looked very appetizing to him either.

"So you're saying he does trust me?" Ashley asked leaning forward in her chair.

"He trusts everyone on this ship with his life. I don't really know much about him either. Anytime I talked to him back at C-Sec, he always gave me just enough information to hold me back, but the only details he ever gave me could have been found in his personnel files. He never talked about Mindoir except when he mentioned you and Mallory." Garrus took a sip of his drink and looked over at Claire.

"He talked about us?"

"All the time. Anytime you two were on the news, he would announce to everyone that you two were his sisters. He was always proud of both of you."

"What do you know about Mindoir? About him on Mindoir?" Claire asked with her eyes on the table.

"That you three were pulled off the planet by an alliance cruiser but most of the rest of the colony was either taken or killed." Garrus said slowly as he watched Claire closely.

"All three of us were rescued…" Claire looked up at her two companions before wetting her lips and continuing. "But not at the same time." Claire stood up and briskly walked back to her cabin.

Garrus sighed and looked over at Ashley. "Well, we know that all the Shepards have one thing in common."

"What's that?" Ashley asked sharply.

"None of them like to go into detail about anything." Ashley let out a huff of frustration before storming of toward the elevator. "Maybe it's just a human thing." Garrus shrugged and took another sip of his drink.

The engine room was louder than the others with the hum of the drive core. That was probably why Tali found it so relaxing. The rest of the ship was just too quiet for her to get comfortable. She spotted Luke out of the corner of her eye as he slumped against the wall. She had not gotten the chance to talk to him much since he joined the ship but Garrus had told her about how he had helped in her rescue on the Citadel.

"I'm glad to see you're settling in, Tali." Luke said leaning against the wall.

"I'm still not use to all of this yet. The ship feels so empty and quiet." Tali plopped down next to him and hugged her knees. "I never thanked you for helping to save my life."

Luke wet his lips and sighed. "That was Claire with her squad and Garrus. I stayed behind to arrest Fist."

"But you were with Shepard when she went in after Fist,right?" Luke chuckled.

"Yeah, I was with her."

"You don't like talking very much do you?" Tali turned her head and laid it down on her arms.

"Not about the past…" Luke started but his words gave out. He brought up his omni-tool and started scrolling through the programs he had. "I heard that you know how to get into a Geth's systems and scramble them up."

Tali lifted her head. Even with the helmet, Luke could see she was slightly excited about discussing technical programming. "Yes, it doesn't last long but I can hack a geth's processing unit and make it think that other geth a hostile."

"Can you show me how?" Luke asked bringing up his omni-tool.

"Sure." Tali brought up her omni-tool and started bringing up images and code fragments on the view screen.

The tech lesson with Tali had helped to take his mind off his problems with his sisters but Luke was far from in a better mood. He could not help it if he couldn't talk about Mindoir. He had to condition himself. Face his fears and his past and conquer them. Claire and Mallory certainly seemed to have done that… but they had not gone through what he had.

Luke sat in a corner of the back room with a holo of Mindoir up on his omni-tool before it had been attacked. It had been the view out of his bedroom window in his family's old prefab. He could see the park where he had put sand down the back of Mallory's shirt and laughed as she cried and wiggled trying to get it out. There was the prefab of a little girl that Claire use to babysit named Tabitha, and just to the right was the prefab where the colony's sheriff lived. Luke had loved going and talking to the man. He had been an officer on Earth during the First Contact War and always had a story about his time there. Then, there was nothing but fire and blood. Luke closed his eyes as he tried to rebury the past.

The door opened and Luke heard a small gasp of surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there." Dr. T'soni stood in the doorway her hands clasped and pressed against her chest.

"Sorry, I'll go." Luke said deactivating his omni-tool and standing.

"Oh, you don't have to. That is not necessary." Dr. T'soni seemed a little flustered by his presence. Luke smiled and slide back down the wall to rest on the floor.

"I didn't mean to intrude Doctor. I just wanted to find somewhere secluded and you were in the mess hall. Seemed as good a place as any." Luke put his arms around his knees and hugged them to his chest using his forearms as a chin rest.

"You can call me Liara. Doctor is a bit formal." Luke chuckled and smiled slightly.

"I'm Luke."

Liara nodded. "I know. Commander Shepard's brother. One of the Shepard triplets."

Luke chuckled and nodded. "That's me. Brother of the great Commander and lieutenant Shepard."

"I already thanked the commander, Garrus, and Wrex for coming and saving me from the Geth but I never got the chance to thank you." Liara lowered her gaze. Luke had been in the med-bay during the debrief after his injury and was sleeping when she was being examined by Dr. Chakwas.

"You're welcome, but I don't think we've been doing a very good job of welcoming you abroad." Luke said sitting up a little. He had seen the way the crew avoided her. He had seen the same behavior and avoidance at C-Sec with a dirty officer named Harkin.

"I know the crew does not trust me, but I am not my mother. But the only person that seems to believe that is the commander." Liara said sitting down in her desk chair.

"Well, I don't count for much but I believe you too and…" Before Luke could finish, his omni-tool flashed with a message from Claire. "Well, looks like we'll have to talk again later. Claire wants me on this next mission."

Liara's beeped as well. "Looks like she wants me down there too." Luke stood and jogged out the door followed closely by Liara. As they entered the elevator, they were met by Mallory and Alenko standing there.

"Where have you been?" Mallory asked as Luke stepped in.

"Just wanted to be alone for a while." Mallory rolled her eyes. Of course Luke wanted to be alone. He never talked to anyone, not even Claire or Garrus.

The four stood in awkward silence for the rest of the elevator ride. When the doors opened, they could not get out fast enough.

Claire stood next to the Mako dressed in her gear, ready to deploy. "We just got a message from Admiral Hackett. There is a Geth incursion in the this cluster. We need to clear them out system by system. Load armor piercing rounds and disrupter rounds." Luke noticed that everyone was grabbing their gear.

"The Mako might get a little cramped with everyone commander." Luke said as he made his way to his locker. Inside was a set of new, military grade armor and an upgrade for his omni-tool. He smirked as started strapping his new gear on.

"Everyone is getting ready because I don't know what size force we are going to be facing. I'm going to take a small scout group with me while the rest of you remain on standby just in case we need a bail out. Garrus and Luke will be the scout party with me. Alenko, I want you, Wrex, and Williams ready to deploy on spider lines. Mallory, you have Liara and Tali ready just in case we need a third wave." Claire climbed up into the Mako followed closely by Garrus. Luke slipped his pistol onto his belt and looked at the Mako.

"Is it too late to adjust the gravity field in the Mako to minimize the bumps, spins and hard landings?" Luke shouted. Claire's head appeared with a large grin across her face.

"Probably, but I can always turn off the inertia dampeners." Luke's eyes went wide for a moment.

"You touch those settings and you will be riding in the back to enjoy it." he hollered.


	6. Chapter 6

**In this chapter I decided to give everyone a couple more details into Luke's experience on Mindoir and some more long lost sibling bonding. *tear* I hope you enjoy it. Please review. **

"What's going on with you Luke?" Garrus asked as the Mako climbed one of the mountain faces. So far the planet had been quiet with little to no Geth activity but they had not finished searching the quadrant yet.

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"I know you're not. We've been friends for years Shepard. I know when you have something on your mind." Luke glanced over at his friend before sighing.

"I'm alright for now. Just dealing with some old baggage, its nothing." Luke turned his full attention back to his monitor just in time to see a missile trail headed straight for them. "Claire it the thrusters now!" The Mako lurched and tumbled down the side of the mountain as the missile exploded against the ridge.

"Where'd that come from?" Claire asked checking her view screens and bringing up a scan of the area. The scan showed nothing but static, it was deliberate interference from a nearby source.

"All my screens are snowing." Luke said bringing up every scan he could. "Comms are down too." He brought up his frequency scan and displayed a signal that was jamming them.

"Judging from the strength of the signal and the trajectory of the missile, I'd say that the Geth outpost is half a click to the southeast and up that ridge." Garrus stated punching in some calibrations and calculations on his omni-tool. Claire nodded her acceptance of his analysis and turned the Mako around.

As the Mako peaked over the ridge, the enemy position became visible. Nine elevated bunkers fortified the outpost with a colossus standing in the center of the encampment.

"Damn it. They have every approach covered. The Mako doesn't have the shields to go up against a colossus in a straight up fight with tower support and if we focus on the towers the colossus with rip us to pieces. He have to give each a specific target to fight." Claire said studying the encampment.

"I've got an idea, but it is beyond crazy and extremely dangerous." Luke said bringing up his omni-tool. He brought up the program that Tali had showed him and armed it.

"Sounds like my kind of plan." Claire said turning to look at her brother.

"I'm going to get out and hook myself to the bottom of the Mako. You drive up next to the compound and drop me next to the wall, then circle the encampment. Dodge the enemy fire while I hack one of the geth sentries. If this program works the way that Tali says it does, The geth should start firing on each other rather than on us." Luke explained.

"Which would give us our window to destroy the colossus and mop up any survivors." Luke nodded as Garrus finished his explanation. "That is the craziest plan I have heard, but it's the only one that seems to have any chance of success."

Claire looked back at her brother with a look that he had not seen in a long time. Fear and concern. She was scared for him. "Luke, if that program doesn't work, you'll be a sitting duck. You'll be killed before we can get back to you."

"That is a risk, but I've looked through this program and Tali knows her stuff. It will work. Just get me close to the wall and don't run me over." Luke said putting on his helmet.

"Why not just go on the roof?" Claire asked.

"Are you crazy? You're driving. I'm safe between the tires with as much as you roll this thing." Claire smiled slightly. Her brother's humor didn't do much to ease her nerves but it did enough for her to focus on the matter at hand.

Luke slipped out of the Mako and used a small cable to hold himself to the Mako's belly. With as close as he was to the metal, the shields would still protect him, but if they fell from a height of fifty meters or more and landed on the wheels. The shocks would not be able to take it and he would be crushed between the ground and the Mako, shields or not. He made a open link between his radio and the Mako's speakers so he could talk to Claire and Garrus.

"I'm ready. Just try and miss the big pot holes okay?" Luke took a slow breath and waited for the Mako to move.

Dust kicked up around the tires as the Mako roared forward. Luke jolted, rumbled, and swung in his harness as they moved forward. His armor smacked against the metal of the Mako's underbelly and he gripped a lip in the alloy.

"Okay, Luke. Drop in 5…4…3…2…1…Go!" Luke dropped and hit the ground hard. He slid for half a second before he was out from under the Mako, another half second before the Mako turned and sped away, another half second and his head lightly bumps the wall stopping him. He brought up his omni-tool and scanned above him revealing a geth rocket trooper. He hacker it using Tali's program and he heard the sound of a rocket being fired. He scrambled to his feet and made his way along the wall until he found another geth trooper, a sniper, and hacker it as well.

"Luke, it's working. The colossus is getting hit by a rocket trooper and a sniper is going after the other infantry. We're coming around to pick you up." Claire's voice echoed in his ear.

"No, go after the colossus. I'll give you fire support against the remaining ground forces."

"Damn it Luke… Fine. Talk about this later." Luke glanced around the corner of the wall and saw the Mako charge the colossus from behind firing the main cannon. He leveled his rifle and drilled a geth trooper across the yard. The Mako's turret turned firing its machine gun and finished off the remaining forces in less than three seconds. Luke looked around at the mangled scrap piles that had once been the defenders and felt a cold shiver run up his spine. He remembered the bodies on the ground on Mindoir. He remembered the feeling of his parents' blood warm on his chest. A single tear rolled down his face.

"Luke, come on. Let's head back to the Normandy." Claire's voice came over the radio shaking him out of his memories.

Luke sighed and made his way over to the Mako. He climbed inside and removed his helmet. Before anyone could see be wiped the tear away as if wiping sweat from his brow.

"When we are back on board, I want to see you in my cabin." Claire said turning and looking back at her brother. Luke nodded and set his rifle down on the floor with his helmet.

Garrus looked over at Claire before crawling into the back with his friend. "I'm starting to see some wear and tear. You alright?" Garrus placed a hand on Luke's shoulder.

"Just bad memories." Luke responded. Claire looked back at the two as Luke leaned back and closed his eyes. Garrus nodded and climbed back up front with Claire.

"There is something really wrong." Claire whispered. Garrus nodded. They knew Luke was far from okay.

"What is it, Claire?" Luke said as the door closed behind him. Suddenly Claire slugged him across the jaw. Luke toppled to the floor more stunned than hurt. He touched his jaw and looked up at his sister.

"Do you realize that we are a team? Do you? Because I'm not okay with you committing suicide." Claire snarled and clenched her fist.

"I know I'm part of a team and I'm not trying to kill myself. I'm doing my job. I fight and I kill for you. What more do you want?"

"I want my brother!" Claire screamed. "I want the boy that taught me how to ride my bike; the boy that beat up the jerk that broke my heart when we were thirteen. I want my brother."

Luke lowered his head and sighed. He remembered how their father taught them all how to ride their bikes. They all thought it was silly considering the contraptions were from the 20th century, but they enjoyed the speed and freedom the devices gave them. Luke and Mallory caught on rather quickly but Claire was a bit slow to learn. Luke spent days with Claire helping her learn to balance and ride while their father was at work.

"I remember…" Luke started but the moment he did, all he could see was his father and mother on the ground covered in blood. His eyes burned and his throat closed up as he slowly got to his feet.

"No, you don't. You remember the raid." Claire's fists had unclenched and she sat down on her bed.

"I can't help it." Luke laid down looking up at the ceiling as he tried to hold back the tears. "Every time I try to think of the good, the bad rushes in and drowns it. You have no idea what it was like Claire. Sure you remember mom and dad pulling us out of bed, running with us, but did you feel Dad's blood on your skin? Did you feel Mom's brains splatter against your chest? No! I did. That was me. You and Mal got out. I didn't." Luke ripped off his shirt revealing a massive scar on his right shoulder. The mark was a Batarian Slaver brand. Claire's anger vanished instantly.

"But the marines said they found you. They said you were safe." Luke put his shirt back on and wet his lips. The nightmares and memories were raging in his mind and tears were flowing from his eyes. His knees gave out on him and he crumpled to the floor. Claire immediately ran to her brother and cradled him in her arms running her fingers over his short hair. She remembered how it calmed him down and how much he had enjoyed their mother doing it. Of course that was back when his hair was long. "You're safe Luke. No one is going to hurt you here."

Luke lay there sobbing for near an hour before calming down enough to wash his face and stand firmly. He made his way toward the door but Claire stopped him. "You're not going to hit me again are you?" Luke asked with a half hearted smile. She sniffed and Claire smiled softly.

"I'll be here when you are ready to face what happened. I will always be here to listen whenever you need me." Luke nodded and hugged his sister. As they embraced, he felt something that he had not felt in over thirteen years. He had his sister back. Though it didn't put everything right, it was a step in the right direction.

Garrus and Luke sat on some of the crates in the cargo bay while Garrus tinkered with his sniper rifle. Claire had taken Mallory, Alenko, and Williams on the next assault against the geth, much to Garrus' disappointment.

"What did the commander want to talk to you about?" Garrus asked looking through his sight before fiddling with it again.

"You remember what Palten told you after we took down the underground casino ring?" Luke asked as he sipped on some coffee.

"He told me I was reckless and you were out of your mind." Garrus answered looking up from his work.

"Claire thought I was being suicidal at that outpost yesterday." The two looked at each other for a moment and started laughing.

"She thought that was reckless and suicidal?"

Luke grinned. "Let's not tell her about the time we took down that faction of the Blue Suns."

Garrus' mandibles parted revealing a grin as the two chuckled about their past cases, like the time they had rescued a hanar diplomat from some krogan thugs or when they had infiltrated a street gang which led to the arrest of a corrupt bank administrator on the Presidium. As they talked, they stopped laughing and really examined their cases.

"We are a little reckless aren't we?" Luke said crossing his arms.

"But we get the job done. That's what counts." Garrus nodded, apparently satisfied with his modifications (at least for the moment). Luke nodded and leaned back sipping on his coffee again. They sat in silence for a while before Luke spoke up.

"You know what I'm thinking. I think that Saren has a fleet of Geth, krogan mercenaries, asari commandos, and turian assassins under his command. Why isn't the council more worried about this?" Garrus nodded shrugging his shoulders.

"I think they might be protecting him. They don't want to believe their best agent could betray them." Garrus stood up and stretched.

"You think we need to take out the problem permanently don't you? Don't give the council the opportunity to protect him."

"No red tape to get in the way out here especially working with a Spectre, but do you think Claire would be alright with making sure Saren didn't come back?" Luke smirked and set his coffee down. Leaning forward, he lowered his gaze and laced his fingers.

"If I know anything about Claire, she has already picked out which bullet she is going to put through his head." Garrus looked over at his friend.

"What about you?"

"For me, any bullet will do. I'm just going to put one in Saren for every life he has taken starting with the hundreds on Eden Prime."


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright your FemShep/Vakarian fans, this is where I'll start developing that particular romance. I hope you enjoy. Any suggestions, comments, and reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!**

The cockpit was quiet. It was a peace that could really only be found in a ship sailing through space. Luke watched through the view ports as stars whipped buy. The colors of the surrounding nebulas dancing in the black.

"So what do you think?" Joker asked setting the Normandy on auto-pilot.

Luke smiled and closed his eyes. "I think she sails smoother than silk. One of these days you need to show me how you really fly." Joker smiled.

"Hell yeah. I haven't really gotten to put the Normandy through her paces yet and really see what she can do." Joker patted the armrest of his chair with a grin on his face.

"So, how long have you and Claire known each other?" Joker stopped grinning for a second before bursting into laughter. "What? What'd I say?"

"Nothing, you just sound like a stranger asking her best friend to help set you up with her." Joker chuckled a little bit more before taking a breath. "Oh, I almost broke a rib."

Luke smiled and shook his head letting a small laugh escape him. "I guess I just haven't seen her in so long I just wanted to know what she is like now. You know, when the news and the crew aren't around."

Joker nodded. "I only met her a little while ago, about six months before we were assigned to the Normandy. Captain Anderson took her, me, Kaiden, Pressley, and Mallory out for dinner so he could get to know the officers on the crew. Claire and I started hanging out talking about the ship and we just kind of clicked." Luke raised an eyebrow. "Nothing romantic…come on. She couldn't handle all this." Joker said flexing his arms. Luke immediately burst out laughing holding his stomach.

"What's so funny?" Claire asked stepping onto the bridge. Luke tried to quiet himself but failed horribly.

"Nothing, Luke's just having a spaz attack." This caused Luke to laugh even harder to the point where he could hardly breath.

"I can see that. How long until we reach the next Geth outpost?" Claire crossed her arms as Luke finally gained control of himself.

"I'd say about an hour more."

"Good. Let me know when we enter high orbit. I need to send a report in to Admiral Hackett." Claire patted her brother on the shoulder as she left.

Joker and Luke waited until Claire was out of each shot before smiling at each other. "You know she would probably kill us both for that." Luke said. Joker nodded.

"Yeah, but then who would fly the ship?"

Luke sat in the cargo bay fiddling with his omni-tool and adding any upgrades and hacking software he could find. Despite his years of experience with programming and encryption, Tali could still hack, sabotage, and program circles around him any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Of course, his experience was limited to civilian grade equipment and tech. Nevertheless, Luke spent a few hours every day with Tali so she could show him how to use his skills to give the team an edge in combat so that he was not just another gun.

He had still not quite figured out his place on the team. Claire was of course the fearless leader; the famous and skilled Commander Shepard. Mallory was the mission oriented soldier who made shure to get the job done no matter what. Kaiden was the morale officer and an excellent biotic. Ashley was in every aspect of the word the "gunny." As skilled a marine as anyone had ever seen. Garrus could make his sniper rifle dance from nearly any distance. Not even Claire could match him shot for shot even though she tried. Wrex was a powerful brute force fighter and had experience with the underworld of the galaxy. Tali was their tech wiz. Anything technology related she could do. Liara's biotics were impressive to say the least and her knowledge of the Protheans was serving the mission well. Everyone had their specialty, their task.

"Looks like you have something on your mind." Ashley said sitting down next to him.

"It's nothing. Just figuring some stuff out." Luke answered leaning back and resting his head against the wall.

"What kind of things?" Luke smirked. She was not going to let this go. Not without an answer.

"Trying to figure out where I fit with all this. I've been feeling a little…I don't know…useless, I guess." Luke said dismissing the view for his omni-tool. Ashley was back up on her feet in front of him before he knew what happened.

"You are the creativity behind the team. If something seems impossible you don't wait for an opportunity to present itself. You think on your feet and come up with a plan, even if it is flying by the seat of your pants. You're stunt with at the first Geth outpost was gutsy, reckless, and shouldn't have worked, but you did it without thinking because that is who you are. You're selfless and brilliant and the heart of the team."

As Luke was about to respond, the cargo bay door opened and the Mako came roaring inside. Luke could see scorch marks on the hull where plasma rounds had hit it and the smoke coming from the engine was not a good sign at all. The hatch opened and Mallory jumped out followed by Wrex who was limping slightly. The krogan's armor had several holes in the right side and blood had run all the way down his leg. Mallory turned back to the Mako and helped Claire out. She was covered in blood and could not stand under her own power. Luke rushed forward but Garrus beat him to her. He scooped Claire up in his arms and sprinted for the elevator with Luke and Mallory hot on his heels.

"What the hell happened?" Luke asked as he examined a wound on Claire's back. It was hard to get a good look thanks to Garrus' arms.

"After we thought we cleared the outpost, we got out to check. Apparently I missed a rocket trooper. The damn thing got a shot off before we could take it down. Claire tried to knock Wrex out of the way but they both got hit. It would have been a lot worse if Claire hadn't knocked him out of the way." Mallory was close to tears. She had been the one on the machine gun in the Mako. She had missed the trooper that caused her sister's wounds.

"It happens Mal." Luke said placing a concerned hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off and turned away from him.

"Not to me."

Luke shook his head and sighed. _I give up. She wants to be like that, fine. I don't give a damn._

As the elevator door opened, Garrus sprinted for the med bay where doctor Chawkwas and Liara were waiting. Luke was less than a second behind him. He looked back to see if Mallory was behind them but she was gone. As much as he wanted to go find her, he wanted to be by Claire's side more. Not to mention she need him now.

"Garrus, just set me down. You didn't have to carry me." Claire's voice was weak but still held her authoritative demeanor. Luke smiled slightly although the worry held firm in his chest and eyes.

Garrus set Claire down gently and stepped back allowing Liara and Dr. Chawkwas to examine the shrapnel wounds. Luke stood on the opposite side of the room chewing on the knuckle of his forefinger. Garrus turned to look at his friend before stepping to his side.

"She's going to be fine. She's already giving orders again." Garrus said patting his friend on the back. The statement was true enough but Luke could tell that Garrus was worried about her too.

"Come on, let's give the doc room to work." Luke turned and stepped out of the med bay only to be met by Mallory with Alenko behind her.

"Grab your gear and tell Williams to gear up too. We four are going to take out the last outpost while Claire is on the mend so they don't have time to reinforce it." Luke lowered his head and looked back at Garrus. The turian shrugged and made his way over to the mess hall.

"So our sister gets hurt and your first reaction is to take command and gear up for a mission? You really have changed." Luke said shoving past Mallory.

"I'm just trying to complete the mission. I'm not vanishing without a trace for thirteen years." Luke didn't even stop. He kept his pace until he got to the elevator. The doors closed slowly and Luke roared at the top of his lungs. He slammed his fists against the door and walls hollering the entire time. They needed to get to that outpost fast because he wanted to kill something.

Mallory, Luke, Kaiden, and Ashley had landed in the Mako headed for the next outpost. The rest of the crew was simply going about their business; Tali tinkering on the drive core and propulsion systems, Liara studying some of her Prothean research, and Wrex was relaxing in the cargo bay using a few crates as a bench.

Garrus was in the med bay trying to read on his omni-tool while keeping an eye on Claire. She had been asleep for hours. Garrus finally shook his head and minimized the screen on his omni-tool before placing a hand on Claire's.

"I really hope you can't hear this Shepard…or maybe I hope you can. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm a little embarrassed. I just never thought about having feelings for anyone, especially a human. I don't know how to explain it… I guess there really isn't a way to explain it is there?" Garrus ran one of his fingers along Claire's cheek. "I'm not really sure how to compliment humans or tell one that she means a lot to me. I guess I should just say it as plainly as possible. I'd follow you anywhere Claire. I've heard Luke say that we've been to Hell and back. I think I understand what that means, but I'll follow you to Hell and watch your back whenever you need me." Garrus didn't know how else to say how much he admired her as a commander and soldier, but he could not find any words to tell her just how much he cared for her personally.

_This is ridiculous. I barely know her and she is my best friend's sister. How would I feel if Luke started dating my sister? Besides, Claire is my commanding officer and a Spectre. She couldn't care about me that way even if she wanted to. It's best to bury all this…_ But even as the words pounded in his head, he could not take his eyes off his sleeping commander. He had seen what human standards of beauty were and he knew what turians called beautiful, but Claire left them all behind. She had the strength and skill that turians found attractive and the looks that humans described as gorgeous. Plus she was smart, resourceful, and kind. Garrus had never met a woman who could just as easily make peace as she could shoot.

Claire stirred from her slumber causing Garrus to take a step back and sit down on the next exam table over. He thought about what he was going to say to her when she was awake and alert, but nothing really came to mind. He sighed and shook his head at his own fear and nervousness as he left the med bay.


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter is focused more on the interactions between Mallory and Luke, plus there is a little more about Luke's past. As always, suggestions, reviews, and comments are welcome. Enjoy!**

The Mako took a hard hit and the alarms for drained shield energy started going off. Luke diverted what energy he could but there was not much to reroute. His gaze snapped to Mallory as she tried to maneuver the Mako out of enemy fire, but the vehicle was not agile enough and took another direct hit from a rocket launcher.

"Mallory, there is no room to maneuver! We have to get out and take these things down on foot!" Luke shouted as he used his the omni-gel to fuse some of the wiring back together.

"Don't you ever give me orders Luke! You are not in command here!" Mallory snapped back. Luke shook his head and locked his helmet into place.

"You heard her! We stay!" Kaiden shouted firing the canon. Luke shook his head and retrieved his pistol from his hip.

"I'm not a marine." With that, Luke opened the back hatch and slipped through the shield.

"God damn it Luke! Get your ass back in this vehicle!" Mallory's voice blared over the radio, but Luke simply pressed forward and deliver a shot through a Geth rocket trooper's head. The synthetic being fell backwards firing it rocket launcher into a group of troopers that were taking cover from the Mako's machine gun and decommissioned all three.

"Luke, we're firing the canon on the left flank, take cover!" Ashley's voice sounded over the radio. Luke dove behind a cargo container as the shot rang out blew a prime in half.

Luke stood slowly scanning his surroundings, but the smoke, fire, and mangled geth bodies caused his memories of Mindoir to resurface. He gasped and sat back down using the crate as a back rest. His heart was pounding and his head felt light and clouded. _I've got to get control. Think of the good things. Think of C-Sec. Anything but that._

He took a slow breath and thought of Ashley. He thought of her smile and the way she would joke a quote old literature and poetry when she could not think anything else to say. The more he thought about her, the more Mindoir got buried again. He smiled and stood once more to rejoin the team.

No sooner had regained his feet when Mallory and Ashley turned the corner of the crate. "What the hell were you thinking Luke, huh? I told you to stay in the damn vehicle. You are on my team down here and you will follow my orders."

"Really Mallory? Are you really going to try the drill sergeant approach with me? I'm former C-Sec. I worked with former special ops turians. I've seen every guilt tactic you could possibly throw at me. All this barking does not disguise the fact that I made the right call when you screwed up. But there is one thing you need to get through the armored skull of yours… I'M NOT A FREAKING MARINE!" He tried to shove past her but Mallory slammed him against the crate and pinned him there.

"If we are on a mission together, you will follow my orders. I am in command here. This is my team and my assignment!"

"How did that work out for your unit on Torfan? They obeyed orders, right?" Mallory released him and backed away slowly, but Luke took a step forward staying right up in her face. "Sure you accomplished your mission but how many of your men walked out of those tunnels? How many would have walked out if you had listened to suggestions from your XO? I'm not the one who needs to learn to follow, Mal. I'll follow Claire. This is her team and her mission. You are not my superior. Get that though your head."

Luke shoved past her and headed toward the center of the outpost were a small array of transmission towers were standing. His heart was still racing but he was pretty sure it was anger and adrenaline rather than panic.

"Hey Luke. I've got something here." Kaiden announced from beside a transmission tower. Luke knelt beside him and brought up his omni-tool display.

"This tower is sending some kind of signal off planet. Judging by the strength, I'd say it is within the same cluster. Tali and I can trace it to which system and planet when we get back to the ship." Luke said locking the frequency into his omni-tool. Once on board the Normandy, they could find the signal again and trace it.

"It could be the geth base of operations for this incursion."

"My thoughts exactly." Luke said widening his scanning range. He wanted to make sure that there weren't any more signals buried in the transmission.

"Can I ask you something?" Kaiden asked looking over his shoulder. Luke looked at the Lieutenant for a moment before nodding.

"Sure."

"What is with you and Mallory? She's your sister but you don't talk to her about anything and when you do, you either rip into her like now or you don't say anything about yourself." Luke locked his jaw and clenched his fist.

"That's not any of your business." Kaiden opened his mouth to respond but Luke cut him off. "I don't give a damn if you are dating my sister or not. I don't give a damn whether you like me or not. I don't give a damn if you hate my guts, but you will treat me like part of the team. You are not my superior and neither is Mallory. So, how about you climb down off that high horse of yours and get your head back into the mission?" Luke closed his omni-tool and stood up. He saw Mallory and Ashley looking at him out the corner of his eye but he did not look back. He climbed into the Mako slammed his fist against the wall.

_This is why I never wanted to be a marine or in the navy. Everything is about rank and protocol. C-Sec was just as bad with the captains, agents, detectives, and officers, but at least it was a little more relaxed._

Ashley climbed in after him and sat down next to him. "You okay?"

"No." Luke said shortly. "

"I'm sorry. Anything I can do?" Ashley asked setting her hand on Luke's shoulder. Luke leaned back against the wall of the Mako.

"I don't know…" Ashley moved across the space so they were sitting face to face before leaning forward.

"You were a little harsh on Mallory and Kaiden out there." Luke waited for her to ask for an explanation but the question never came.

"This is Claire's team, not Mallory's. And who put Mallory as second in command any way? You know, I don't even think Claire knew that Mallory was taking a team down to deal with this outpost." Ashley folded her hands and sat back again.

"This was a mission for the Alliance and the Normandy is still an Alliance military craft. Claire is the XO so…" Luke looked up at her. She had a small smirk on her face. He found himself nodding but wanting to be angry with the answer, yet the anger would not surface. He could not find it in him to be angry with Ashley.

"Was I completely wrong to say what I did?" Luke asked as he looked down at his boots.

"Not completely but not completely right either."

"I just…When Mal was telling me to stay in the vehicle, all I could think about was an old poem. I guess you're rubbing off on me." Ashley smiled. She was glad she was still wearing her helmet because she did not want Luke to see how badly she was blushing. "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Ashley nodded. "_Theirs not to make reply/ Theirs not to reason why/ Theirs but to do and die/ Into the valley of death/ Rode the six hundred."_

"You felt like that was us if we stayed in the Mako?" Ashley asked.

"Like I told Mallory and Kaiden, I'm not a marine. I'm a cop. My job required me to see the bigger picture based on details and educated guesses. Most of my old job was reacting on instinct."

"I would like to hear about some of your old cases. Sounds like they'd be kind of interesting." Luke looked up at Ashley and nodded. Mallory and Kaiden were climbing into the front seats as Ashley and Luke took off their helmets.

"I'll tell you about a few of the interesting ones when we get back." Ashley grinned and the Mako started to rise for the Normandy to retrieve it.

"What the…How did…Who was…What happened to the Mako?" Garrus asked as he started to inspect the nearly totaled machine. The ground team was stripping their armor and weapons as Garrus looked over at them. Luke pointed at Mallory accusingly. "Is this just a female Shepard thing to nearly total the Mako every time there is a mission?"

"Quite possibly." Luke responded. Ashley smiled and held back the urge to giggle at the comments.

Mallory apparently did not find the exchange amusing at all. She tossed her weapons on to the cleaning table and marched toward the elevator. Kaiden quickly followed.

"Ten credits says that Claire is down here in ten minutes to lecture me." Luke shouted.

"Knowing you Shepard, I'd say eight." Wrex shouted from his spot. Garrus looked to be pondering the statement while Ashley elbowed Luke in the ribs.

"She is not going to lecture you." Luke looked at her with an expression that caused her to reconsider her statement. "Okay, okay, eleven minutes."

"I'll take thirteen minutes. Considering she is still not moving so good and she will have to get by Dr. Chawkwas." Garrus shouted and he started to make repairs to the Mako.

Tali appeared from the engine room corridor looking somewhat confused. "What is going on?" She asked innocently.

"We're taking bets on how long it will be before Claire is down here to lecture Luke." Ashley said checking the time on her omni-tool. "Right now Luke says ten minutes, I say eleven, Wrex says eight, and Garrus has thirteen. Ten credits to buy in."

Luke chuckled and leaned over to her. "I thought you didn't care to much for aliens."

"I don't think we should count on them staying allies but I don't mind socializing with them and taking their money." Ashley grinned up at him as she carried her weapons over to the cleaning table.

"Nine minutes." Tali shouted.

Luke opened a comm. channel to the cockpit on his omni-tool. "Hey Joker. We've got a bet going on how long it will take Claire to get down here to lecture me about the mission. You want in? Pot's up to fifty credits right now."

"Hell yeah I want in. What's the clock at?"

"Three and a half minutes." Ashley said.

"Okay, I'll take fourteen minutes." Joker responded.

Ashley and Luke smiled as they started to clean their weapons. Luke left his sniper rifle and shotgun in his locker and only took his assault rifle and pistol to the table.

"So about those interesting cases?" Ashley said as she field stripped her rifle.

"I guess the most interesting one was my first case with my first partner, Bailey. He was a hell of an officer. Anyway, we were walking a foot patrol in the factory district of Zakera Ward. The was a disturbance called in and we were sent to this old rundown apartment complex that was just crawling with all kinds of scum. I swear, I have never seen so many red sand dealers or hired thugs in one place before, and these guys were flaunting it in front of us. My guess is they had friends in high places. Turns out the call was a hoax but Bailey and I decided to but every last dealer in the place. Only a few put up a fight but we made twenty-three arrests before the building was cleared. Well, we decided to take all their omni-tool data and the terminal data in the area, then we analyzed it. Most of the rest of the story is boring but it led to an ambassador's aid being imprisoned and an asari ambassador resigning from office." Ashley had stopped cleaning her rifle and looked over at him with a small smile on her face.

"I heard about that on the extranet. Why weren't you two recognized for it?"

"Because we disobeyed orders to do it. That asari was a friend of the Executor and he came down on our station hard for it. I think he was trying to find some dirt on us but we were so new, we were still shiny."

"Still, turning a disturbance call into a high profile take down, that's pretty impressive." Ashley said running her cleaning rag down the outside of her rifle barrel.

"No one but Bailey and I really saw it as a win. Though what we did was legal, there were a lot of loopholes we exploited and situations that we arranged. Our priority was to get those scumbags off the street and in a cell. To do what was right… sadly, what is right and what is legal are not always the same thing. Bailey started to realize that and played by the rules…sometimes."

"You still don't play by the rules." Ashley responded. Luke shrugged and finished cleaning his pistol. As he started on his rifle, he heard the elevator door open and he checked his omni-tool.

"Looks like Joker won the bet." Luke said turning around and seeing his sister limping toward him. He sighed and started toward her.

"Heard you were playing hero again." Claire said throwing her arm around her brother's shoulders. He smirked and helped her toward the Mako.

"Not a hero, just mildly intelligent. If I hadn't bailed out and engaged the enemy on foot, the Mako would have been destroyed killing everyone in it. I made the right call." Claire turned to face her brother and wet her lips as if getting ready to start her lecture. "But, Ash has helped me see that I was wrong to lash out at Kaiden and Mal. I'll apologize to them for it once the repairs have been made to the Mako."

"Luke, I know you are not a marine. I've read your file from C-Sec. You do your own thing and you're damn good at it, but if I'm not down on the ground, at least get permission before you do it." Luke smirked.

"So what about when you are on the ground?"

Claire sighed and placed her hands on her brother's shoulders. "Like you said, you are on my team, when I am on the ground, you follow my orders. Most of the time I'll let you do your own thing but there will be times when I need you to be a marine at my back. Can I count on you?"

The question caused Luke's stomach to turn. He had let them down thirteen years before, yet Claire was putting an enormous amount of trust in him. It was humbling. He could not abandon Claire or Mallory again.

"I've got your back."

Claire hugged her brother and started back toward the elevator, but stopped short looking back at Garrus and Luke as they worked to repair the Mako.

"You miss my driving yet?" Her smile widened upon seeing both men nodding. The doors closed and Garrus looked up at Luke.

"Is destructive driving just a Shepard family thing?" Garrus asked.

"Actually that would be a Shepard female thing. I think I'm a decent enough driver." Garrus chuckled.

"Luke, don't forget. I've ridden with you behind the controls."


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry this took a little while... as usual, any comments and reviews are welcome. I hope y'all like it.**

"Alright, this is the main base for this incursion. Equip disrupter rounds to your assault rifles and armor piercing to your pistols. Garrus, I want you to hang back and provide sniper cover. Wrex, Luke, and I are the assault team." Claire said as the Mako rumbled across the terrain.

"We should keep an eye on the scanners. Geth like to set up jamming towers so we'll know we are close if we loose the signal." Garrus said calibrating the scanning equipment.

Luke looked through his scope and panned across the area in front of them. As he did, he saw a small gleam on the horizon. He maximized the zoom on it and focused the lens. As he did, the top of a transmission tower came into view. "Claire, I got a visual of a transmission tower at one o'clock, just over the crest of the second hill. I'll bet you it's in the valley. Range about 700 meters."

Claire nodded and turned the Mako to face the tower. "Alright, I got it. Locking in on the coordinates. When we get close, Garrus and I will scout from the hill top while you and Wrex cover us with the Mako's weapon systems."

Luke smiled. _An intelligent order. This is why I have no problem following you._

"We got you covered Shepard." Wrex responded.

The Mako settled on the side of the hill and Claire shut down everything but the weapons systems. As she and Garrus gathered their gear, Luke used the scope to scan the hill side for any enemy scouts.

"So if we see you running back to the Mako screaming, we'll just start up the engine for you." Luke said as he completed his scan. He looked down at his sister and friend as they locked their helmets into position.

"If we come running down the hill screaming, you take the Mako and you come and save our butts." Claire said nudging her brother.

"What? Risk my tank? Garrus and I work too hard on this baby to risk her like that." Claire smiled as Luke winked and settled into the driver's seat. He diverted control of both the cannon and machine gun to Wrex's seat.

"Ready?" Claire asked Garrus.

"Always." Garrus responded.

The two exited the vehicle and started making their way up the hill. Garrus had his sniper rifle out as did Claire. As they reached the top, they laid down on their stomachs and peered through their scopes.

"Spirits! Are you seeing this?" Garrus asked.

"Seeing…not quite sure if I'm believing." Claire responded. Through the scope and less than 150 meters away in the valley, three sniper towers surrounded the entrance for an underground facility with two colossus walkers patrolling the perimeter.

"What's going on up there, you too?" Luke asked over the radio.

"You're not going to believe this, but there are two colossus down there with three support sniper towers. Oh, and to top things off, it's an underground facility." Claire said as she scanned the surrounding terrain.

"Well, I'm looking at a terrain scan of the area and it looks like there is a wide plain to the south. We can use the hill for cover and maneuver the Mako down there. If we can keep it moving and avoid enemy fire. We could draw the colossuses' attention while you two take out the snipers. Once the snipers are down, use disrupter rounds on the colossuses' shields and Wrex and I will move in to finish them off." Luke said. Claire turned and looked back at the Mako. Luke wasn't moving yet, he was waiting for her go ahead.

"What do you think Garrus?"

"I'm not sure there is any other way to do it. It is the best plan that keeps us from being spotted and accounts for the enemy strength. The southern plain is the only option with enough room for maneuvers anyway. Unless you want to charge in with no support and all of us in the Mako?" Garrus chuckled a little after the last statement. He knew Claire was going to approve of Luke's strategy. It was the best option.

"Alright Luke, move into position, and start your diversion as soon as you get there." Claire said turning back over and gazing through her scope.

"You got it. Wrex and I will try and take out the transmission tower so they can't signal for reinforcements."

"Good luck." Claire responded.

"Don't need any Claire. I'm just that good." Claire looked over at Garrus who was shaking his head. Claire muted her speaker for the radio between her and the Mako, leaving only the helmet to helmet transmitters in her and Garrus' helmets.

"Was he like this when you met him?" Claire asked.

"Absolutely. He was always confident. He had to be." Garrus answered. Claire looked over at him.

"Why?"

"Luke was a good officer, don't ever doubt that. But he was never one about following the rules. He did whatever he had to do to make sure the guilty were locked up and the innocent were safe."

"Sounds kind of like you." Claire responded zooming in on the geth sniper with her scope. Garrus chuckled slightly and glanced over at her.

"You know, the first case that Luke and I worked together as going after this doctor named Saleon. He was growing parts inside his employees to sell on the black market. We weren't exactly sure of what the other was willing to do to bring that sick bastard in and so we both played by the rules. Near the end of the investigation, Saleon had taken thirty of his employee or living test tubes and taken a ship. Luke was already in the traffic control tower when I got there and we ordered the turret defenses to shoot him down, but C-Sec brass belayed our orders. They said that it was too big of a risk with the hostages on board." Claire looked over at the turian. It was hard to imagine her brother as a vigilante cop even with everything she had read in his files.

"I don't know. Shooting the ship down while inside the citadel, debris could easily have hit one of the arms. It might not have just been the hostages on board that might have gotten hurt."

"All they had to do was disable the engines. Maybe the hostages die, maybe they don't. But now that that son of a bitch escaped, they're dead for sure." Claire nodded. She saw the reasoning on both sides of the argument but she had to admit, she sided with Garrus and Luke more so than C-Sec brass.

"That must have been rough having a case end like that right off the bat."

Garrus nodded and released the safety on his rifle. "Luke and I got a drink that night and made a deal. We would not rat each other out on anything the other did as long as it was within reason and was to catch a criminal. We never had a case that did not close with either a suspect in shackles or a bag. Made us the best in a way." Garrus breathed slowly and glanced to the south. "Here we go."

Claire caught a glimpse of the Mako pulling into position at the far south end of the field. The cannon fired and hit one of the colossus' legs. The mech stumbled and collapsed to the ground. The Mako roared forward across the field firing wildly at the geth defenders. The other colossus fired its main cannon. Claire was shocked to see Luke handle the Mako so well. He used the thrusters lifting the vehicle off the ground just enough to avoid the blast and fired them again right before hitting the ground to soften the impact. She looked back to her scope and watched at the report of Garrus' rifle coincided with a geth sniper's head exploding. He fired hitting in it central ion pump under the main chest plate.

"Ten credits say I can hit the last one before you can." Garrus said playfully. Claire fired hitting the last sniper in the arm only a half second before Garrus fired taking off its head.

"I think you owe me ten credits." Claire said.

"Doesn't count, it didn't go down until I finished it off." Garrus replied shifting his aim to one of the colossuses

"Bull shit, you're just crabby because I hit it first." Claire answered playfully shifting her aim to the colossus that had taken the first hit from the Mako. The mech was struggling to get to its feet again, the shot had damaged the hinge in one of its legs.

"Claire, its Luke. We're circling the facility. Try and take down the crippled colssus' shield. Wrex and I will handle the rest."

"You sure, Luke? You might want to handle the fully operational one first." Claire responded.

"You have a point. Okay, let's take that one first. Whenever you're ready." Claire glanced at Garrus. The turian nodded and looked back through his scope. The two sniper rifles fired taking the shields of the colossus almost completely down. As the metallic beast turned to get a shot at Claire and Garrus, the Mako roared over a hill top and opened fire. The tank sped forward firing both the cannon and machine gun into the mech until an explosion of blue flame cracked the armor and the colossus collapsed.

"Killing stuff with big guns, there's nothing like it." Wrex said letting out his fractured, rascally laugh.

"Damn straight. Now let's get the other one." Luke answered. Claire watched as the Mako swung around the facility and came up behind the damaged mech. The tank stopped and fired straight into the back of the colossus' firing chamber in what looked like its head. The machine exploded violently and the legs gave out as the body collapsed.

The team reassembled at the entrance to the geth strong hold and inspected their weapons. Claire patted her brother on the back as he checked his pistol.

"Nice driving speedy."

"And the only damage taken was to the shields." Luke said proudly.

"I'm trying to pay you a compliment, Luke. Don't ruin the moment." The group laughed and before looking at the door. "Well, might as well announce ourselves." Claire opened the door and slipped inside with the squad right behind her.


	10. Chapter 10

**I hope y'all like this chapter. Big shout out to Art, thanks for the feedback.**

**As usual, please review and comment. Let me know what you think.**

Luke had his back to the crate as the rifle and pistol fire surrounded him. Claire was pinned like him behind a support column less than 5 meters away but if he tried to get to her, he would get gunned down for sure. The geth troopers and juggernauts were pouring the fire down on them. Garrus had gotten a few rounds off with his sniper rifle but the juggernauts' shields were too strong and recharged before he could fire again. Wrex was on the floor next to Garrus while his body healed. The krogan had charged in to the main room and had taken a direct hit from a prime's rocket launcher. Wrex claimed that his pride hurt worse than the wound (and perhaps with a redundant nervous system it did) but the wound still looked bad.

Luke started thinking about how to lower the shields of the juggernauts long enough for Garrus to get a shot at those damned flashlight heads of theirs but everything he ran through his head ended with him, Garrus, or Claire dead on the floor.

"Claire, we're in trouble! We need to kill these things, accomplish our mission and go home…although at this moment we might just want to skip straight to the go home and come back with…you know…the whole crew." Luke spoke into the radio.

"Come on Luke. I know this looks bad but we can figure this out. We just need something to give us enough time to cross the room. If we can get behind them, then we can pressure them enough that Garrus can get a couple shots off."

"I like it, but how are we going to get someone across? You two barely made it to that crate and column." Garrus asked. Luke looked around and his eyes went wide.

"Wrex, I need your shield batteries. Claire, do you have your shield boost program?" Luke shouted. Wrex pointed to his back for Garrus to removed the batteries. Claire opened her onmi-tool and brought up the program.

"What do you have in mind?" Claire asked.

"There was a theory that if you put enough energy into a shield generator that you could make a nearly in pregnable barrier like a ship's kinetic barrier. If Wrex's batteries have enough juice left in them and I can use your shield boost program to force all their energy into the shields at once, then maybe my shield will hold up against that amount of fire and I could get across the room." Claire looked over at her brother as Wrex slide the batteries across the floor. Luke caught them and scanned them with his omni-tool.

"Luke, are you 100% sure about this?" Claire asked.

"Yes…no…possibly…50/50…" Luke said bringing up his omni-tool and scanning his sister's program. Claire's face turned to a worried scowl and Luke started typing away on his omni-tool.

"That is not very reassuring." Claire scolded. Luke smiled as he linked the batteries to his own generator and pulled his pistol.

"I'll tell you what, I'll be more reassuring if I live through this." Luke grinned at his sister as she lifted her hands in defeat. Even in a life or death situation, Luke was joking. Maybe he was more like Joker than she wanted to admit.

"Alright, give me some covering fire on three." Luke breathed slow and looked up at Garrus then back over to his sister. "One…" They raised their weapons. "Two…"

"Wait, wait, wait…is it one, two, three, then shoot? Or do we shoot on three?" Claire asked. Luke turned to look at his sister. There was no smile on her face.

"Oh for the love of… On three! One…two…THREE!" Luke activated the program and the shield went up. Even the sound seemed to lessen as he ran forward. The shots hit the shields and he could feel it push him back slightly. Suddenly, a rocket connected to his side and hurled him into the air. Though he continued forward, the shot had sent him spiraling into a stack of crates. Luke crashed through the crates and landed hard on the floor. He was pretty sure he had even bounced.

As he settled on the floor behind the crates, Luke let out a breath. The shields had worked…for the most part. He was in cover and on the opposite side of the room but his shields were completely drained. They would need almost a minute to recover.

"Luke! Luke, are you alright?" Claire called over the radio.

"Yeah, just feeling the whiplash." Luke said stretching his neck. "Look, I'm stranded here for the moment. That blast drained my shield and I'm going to need a minute to get them back on line."

"Are you telling me you have no shields at all right now?" Claire snapped.

"Yeah, Claire. That's what I'm saying." Luke could hear Claire sigh. She might as well have been standing right in front of him rolling her eyes.

Luke fired blindly around the corner of the crate until his pistol overheated and started venting. He sighed and decided to gamble. The brought up his omni-tool and diverted all the power his suit had in reserve plus what was controlling the suits temperature control system and even the waste disposal system to his shields he focused the power on his upper body from the bottom of his chest plate and up including his arms.

"That might last me until my main shields are back on line." Luke retrieved his pistol and stood up peering out over the top of the crates. There were five geth troopers in cover against Claire and Garrus, but they were completely exposed for him. He fired in a calm controlled manner taking the few milliseconds it took to take a careful aim at each target and eliminate them. Each shot ruptured the chest cavity of the geth spraying white coolant fluid all over the walls and floor. All that were left were the two juggernauts on the balcony upstairs.

"Luke, are your shields back up?" Garrus asked.

"To avoid bodily harm at the hands of my sister, I'm going to say 'no comment'." Luke responded.

"Luke!" Claire snarled. "You're telling me you are fighting without shields?"

"Against geth? Are you nuts? Of course I have shields…on my arms, chest, and head." Luke made sure to mumble the last part before clearing his throat.

"Remind me to whoop your ass later." Claire snapped. Luke laughed and reset his generators back to normal.

"Alright, that reduced the cross fire enough that we should be able to take those juggernauts down. I'll throw a grenade, Garrus takes the shot, and Luke keeps his head down. Got it?" Claire said. Luke leaned back against the wall behind him allowing him a small view of the doorway leading to the stairs.

"Got it." Garrus answered.

"Yeah, I'll just be over here…you know…twiddling my thumbs." Luke thought he heard his sister giggle at the remark but it very well could have been a sigh.

"Okay Garrus, on three. One, two, three." Luke heard the juggernauts open fire and then the explosion. Garrus' rifle sounded twice in close repetition and there was silence. Luke heard his shields charge and deploy again and he slowly stood.

"Wrex, how are you feeling buddy?" Luke asked as he trotted back across the room.

"Like I got hit by a rocket, but I'm good." The krogan responded. Luke stopped seeing his squad mate turn the corner. His armor was in pieces but there was enough omni-gel over the holes to give him the time to get back to the Normandy.

"You look good Wrex." Luke said patting him on the shoulder.

"Better than you, as usual." The alien joked smacking Luke on the back. Thanks to his armor, Luke didn't feel a thing but the heavy hand did knock him forward.

The two laughed until they saw a transmission on a geth monitor. It was a vid of a quarian singing that quickly cut off. Luke sprinted over to the console and linked his omni-tool to it. He triggered a data dump like he use to back with C-Sec. The data would be raw and would probably take years to decode considering it was geth code, but it was intelligence the Alliance or the Council could use. The data dump was completed in less than three seconds and Luke pulled an OSD from his pack and transcribed the data to it from his omni-tool.

"What did you get?" Claire asked stepping to her brother's side.

"No idea, but its intel so maybe it will help somewhere down the line." Luke said slipping the OSD into a small storage pocket in the thigh pad of his armor.

"Let's have a look around. See if there is anything else that might prove useful, then we'll get out of here and head back to the ship." The group nodded and began their search. Luke leaned against the wall and looked at the geth he had shot.

Their bodies were motionless. Holes riddled their entire bodies. The white liquid slowly turned red in his eyes and the cold metal melted to flesh. The dark flashlight heads twisted into faces. Luke closed his eyes and covered his ears. He could feel tears pushing against the insides of his eyelids trying to escape on to his cheeks but he refused to let them out.

It was the quiet that was difficult, the silence of the dead. They always became what he feared most; what he still had nightmares of.

"Luke? Luke, what's wrong?" Claire's voice ripped through the silence and opened Luke's eyes again.

"Nothing…nothing…I'm fine." Luke said wiping his face and sniffing. He wet his lips and started for the door.

"Luke wait! I know something is wrong. I'm not concerned just because I'm your sister, I'm also your commander. Now tell me what's up with you?" Claire said grabbing his shoulder and turning him to face her. She could see the sorrow behind his eyes. She had seen that look before…a long time ago…in the mirror. "It's Mindoir isn't it."

"Claire, don't. Don't try to make me talk about it."

"I can't help if I don't know." Claire replied gripping her brother's shoulders so he could not turn away. Luke ripped himself from her grasp and pushed her away.

"It's not your job to fix everything in the galaxy! Bad shit happens and people have to deal with it. So I went through a trauma, so did you. So did Mal. So did just about everyone in the galaxy at some point in time. But I am dealing with it so lay off!"

"Luke, if you would just tell me what happened, maybe I would understand." Claire was staying calm even with Luke screaming in her face.

"No one understands. No one can. I'm not just going to spill my guts because you ask. It is my burden and I'll carry it…" Luke turned to leave and closed his eyes. "I always have."

Claire watched her brother head back to the entrance of the facility. She didn't understand why Luke was so tight lipped about what happened. When she was placed in the foster system so sought out a council to talk to about what she had seen. Of course, she and Mallory had escaped less than two hours after their parents had died. They had been found by a marine unit that was trying to help evacuate the colonists and hold the line against the slavers. The Alliance psychologist had explained that that was why Claire had wanted to join the military. She wanted to save people and keep them from harm like she was.

"He has been like that as long as I have known him." Garrus said stepping to Claire's side. She looked over at the turian with a slight smile. She liked having him close. She could not explain it. He just made her feel safe.

"Not always. He use to sneak into Mallory's and my room just to talk to us at night. Sometimes about the boys we liked, others about the girls he had a crush on. Sometimes it was just to talk to us about what he did that day. He was never to proud to ask us for advice and help." Claire crossed arms and leaned against a crate.

"I don't think it is pride that is keeping him quiet now." Garrus remarked. Claire looked over at him. Garrus was us to the way Luke was now. Maybe he would understand what made him the way he was.

"Do you know anything about what happened to him?" Claire asked.

"Only what was in his file. Most of it was redacted." Claire stood up again and turned to face Garrus.

"A civilian's file was redacted? Is that common for C-Sec officers?"

"For an officer like Luke, a redacted file is pretty common. Luke had a lot of undercover assignments against criminals that had a connection to dirty officers in C-Sec. All I know for sure is that there is a sealed file that is attached to Luke's C-Sec file."

"How sealed?" Claire asked taking a step closer.

"Nothing a specter couldn't get a hold of." Garrus said with a smirk.


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm sorry there is such a long wait between chapters. I am having to work 14 hour days to keep up with bills and Christmas lists. Thanks to those who are sending me reviews and comments. I appreciate you view and your opinion. I hope y'all like the next installment. Enjoy!**

Claire sat staring at the file on her vid screen. It sat sealed with her password and id keyed in. All she had to do was press enter and her brother's secrets would be revealed…or at least some of them. She couldn't help but feel like she was invading his privacy. She minimized the screen and stood up.

"Must be something you don't want to read." Mallory said from the door. Claire turned to face her sister and smiled.

"Just an old file." Mallory nodded and sat down on the bed. "You look like you have something on your mind."

"It's Luke. He is really pissing me off with his attitude and his vigilante hero demeanor. He wants to know everything about everyone but doesn't want to surrender anything about himself." Mallory said looking up at her sister. Claire nodded and sat down next to her.

"I think that comes from him working for C-Sec. I've read some of his files and for an eleven year agent, he is really good." Claire said patting her sister on the shoulder.

"I'm not talking about his work history or his professionalism." Mallory snapped standing once more. She started pacing back and forth in front of the bed. "What I want to know is: is he still the brother that we knew as kids?"

"No, he's not." Claire answered. Mallory stopped pacing and stared at her sister for a moment. The answer was so quick and abrupt that it had shocked her into silence, even if only temporarily. "None of us are the same as we were. Luke is scarred in some way that we can't understand until he opens up and tells us about it. That will take time."

"Time? He has had thirteen years to come to grips with what happened! You and I have." Mallory shouted.

Claire wet her lips and looked into her sister's eyes. "I don't know what Luke went through on Mindoir or what he has gone through sense, but do you see the way he looks when he is standing in the aftermath of a firefight once everything is quiet again?"

Mallory crossed her arms and shrugged. "Of course, I've seen it. Everyone has."

"Dr. Chawkwas says that he is most likely experiencing a post-traumatic stress flashback. She says it could be as intense as the original experience." Claire sighed softly. She had no idea of what Luke had been through, but if the brand on his back was any indication, everything she had been through paled in comparison. She could not imagine how she would be able to handle the horrific experiences she had been through if she saw them every time it was quiet.

"We still need to know more. I was doing some digging and I found out what unit took him off Mindoir. I've been through the archives trying to find their mission reports but it seems that they were deemed classified about my clearance. Could you get into them? You are a Commander." Mallory said glancing over at her sister's computer.

"I think we need to wait until Luke is comfortable enough to tell us what happened before we go digging into his past on our own." Claire stated. Mallory sighed and shook her head before standing.

"Claire, we need to know what happened to Luke and why he is the way he is, or he might get someone killed." With that, Mallory made her way out the door leaving Claire to mull over the statement. She had to admit, Mallory had a point. Luke's actions were reckless, although fearless, but he never put anyone else but himself at risk.

Claire patched her omni-tool into the ship's intercom. "Dr. Chawkwas, please report to the CO's cabin." Claire sat back down at the computer and opened the search screen. She stared at the sealed file and waited. One push of a button away from more answers; the question was not could she, but would she.

The door opened and Dr. Chawkwas entered. "You wanted to see me Commander?"

"Yes. I have a few questions that might be in violation of the medical code of ethics but I would appreciate the answers."

"I'll do what I can Shepard." Claire nodded and offered Dr. Chawkwas a chair.

"Luke got hit during the mission on Therum. He came up to see you about the wound. Did you do a full examination?"

"I applied medigel and did a quick scan to check for infections or debris but other than that no. He would not reveal anything except the wounded area. I don't know what happened in his past but I would have to say that he had been abused."

"Why do you say that?" Claire asked squaring off and giving the doctor her full attention.

"He has the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, but he still remains functional. My guess is that he holds a large amount of anger toward whoever hurt him which allows him to keep his composure during combat. But after the fighting is over and he sees the aftermath, his mind immediately opens those old wounds. When he is on the ship, he feels safe so he can be the joking C-Sec officer that we all know, but during a mission, he needs something to focus his rage on or it consumes him and plunges him back into the horror that bore it." Claire nodded and sighed. It was as good an explanation as any.

"Keep an eye on him for me, okay doc?"

Chawkwas nodded and stood. "I keep an eye on everyone Shepard, even you."

"Okay, your turn." Ashley said poking Luke in side. They sat in the crew quarters on the sofa that was tucked in the back.

"No way, that was not an answer." Luke responded bumping her with his shoulder.

"You don't ask a marine what her score was on the marksmanship qualification exam and expect a number. It is like asking for a woman's weight or age." Ashley smiled and turned so her legs were across Luke's lap and her back was against the armrest.

"Wow, you must have scored horribly." Ashley kicked him in the thigh. Luke winced and smiled again.

"I did not… Fine, 47 out of 50. Happy?" Luke nodded and leaned back resting his head on the top of the couch. Ashley smiled and nudged him with her knee. "Why did you decide to come with us?" She asked.

Luke looked at her for a second and sighed. "In the eleven years that I was an agent with C-Sec, I have let three people walk who were guilty of a crime. All for reasons that I'd rather not get into right now, but Saren had been allowed to get away with mass murder and war crimes for years. I'm not going to sit by while a maniac is running around killing people for fun. The whole 'trying to end the universe' thing, that's just an afterthought." Luke paused and glanced over at companion. "Why? Would rather I not be here?"

"I didn't mean anything like that I…" Ashley stopped seeing Luke's lips turn into a toothy grin. She gave him a hard kick in the thigh. "You are a jerk, you know that?"

"I am aware." Luke said rubbing his leg.

Suddenly, Ashley kicked her legs out and jumped to her feet snapping to attention. Luke looked up to see Mallory standing next to a bunk looking at them.

"Sorry Lieutenant, didn't see you there." Ashley spouted. Luke shook his head and crossed his ankles leaning back on the couch once more.

"Could you give me a minute with my brother, Chief?" Ashley saluted and jogged from the room leaving Luke on the couch looking up at his sister.

"So should I be changing into some sparring gear or are you going to talk with your mouth instead of your fists?" Luke asked lacing his fingers across his knees and placing his heel on the ledge of the couch cushion.

"I read your file through, Luke, but all it has is your career with C-Sec, most of which is redacted, and a psychological profile." Luke leaned forward with a smirk.

"I don't hear a question in there, Mal."

"There is another file. A sealed operations report from Mindoir. From the unit that brought you off world. Claire won't unseal it until you're ready to talk about it, but I think we deserve to know." Luke's smirk vanished.

"You think so? Huh? You know I never thought about it like that." Luke sad sarcastically, dramatically stroking his chin. "How about this?" Luke stood slowly and wet his lips keeping his voice low and his eyes focused on his sister. "You maybe use to getting your way here in the military because you are some big shot, but I don't care. You do what you want but don't expect to get any help from me. My life and my hardships are my burdens. I have shouldered them alone for thirteen years. I don't need help."

"Everyone needs help, Luke. Why do you think Kaiden and I are so close?" Luke chuckled and sat back down on the couch.

"What was it? Pillow therapy?" Luke snapped. Mallory crossed her arms.

"Kaiden went through some of the most grueling training the Alliance has other than N7. He confided in me as I did him. It brought us closer as friends and as marines. I know you keep saying you're not a marine but you have to let someone in to help you or that burden you've been carrying on your own for all this time is going to crush you."

Luke lowered his eyes. Mallory had a point. He had been personally estranged from everyone for well over a decade. The only people that he had allowed himself to trust with anything about himself was Bailey and Garrus, but even they only got the basics that could be found on a Citadel id card.

"No promises…but I'll think about it. Good enough?" Mallory sighed looking down at her brother. For the first time since he had come on board, they had had a conversation that did not escalate into shouting or physical violence. Maybe they were making progress?

"Alright." She turned to leave before stopping and turning back to him. "By the way, Williams seems like a good fit for you. You two seem to be getting along well."

"Please don't tell me you're going to give me dating advice next." Luke said rolling his eyes playfully.

"Well, you know, single for thirteen years, I figure you could use all the help you can get." Mallory said leaning against the bunk.

"Single, not celibate." Luke answered with an impish smile. Mallory threw up her hands and letting out an exasperated sigh before leaving the room. Luke chuckled and leaned back once more putting his feet up and closing his eyes.

_Claire is choosing not to unseal that file until I am okay with it, but that files says almost nothing about me, at least if it is the file I'm thinking of. _Luke suddenly sprung to his feet. _The medical report from when I was brought back to the cruiser by those marines, that's what is in there. Maybe it tells part of the story, maybe not, but whatever it does tell them, it is more than I want them to know._ Luke opened his omni-tool and brought up some of his old personal case notes. He needed to contact an old comrade that had high level connections that could very easily seal that file so that not even a spectre could get to it. He knew just the person.


End file.
